


Tell Her You Love Her

by purestilinski



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Drinking, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Jori - Freeform, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:55:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 37,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23317246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purestilinski/pseuds/purestilinski
Summary: It's their last year at Hollywood Arts and Jade has something she needs to tell Tori.
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 97
Kudos: 431





	1. How I Feel

Those damn feelings.

They started the day after they were forced to “date” by Sikowitz. 

At least, that was when she first noticed them.

The group had been sitting at their normal lunch table, like usual. 

Andre was talking about a song he had to write for class, Robbie was arguing with Rex over some stupid thing she had stopped paying attention to, and Cat was being, well, Cat. Beck’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and pressed her into his side. She didn’t move away from the contact but, not for the first time lately, she didn’t feel the same sense of warmth she once found in his arms. She chewed silently on her sandwich, eyes scanning over the table once again before searching through the crowds of other students. Tori was nowhere to be found, not that she missed the half-Latina or anything. She just found it odd that one of the first people usually at the table was running so late. 

“Man, where’s Tori?” asked Andre, apparently thinking the same thing. 

“Who cares?” snarked Jade, crossing her arms over her chest. 

“Good afternoon to you too, Jade,” came Tori’s silky voice from behind her. 

Her stomach did a flip at the sound of Tori’s voice. Before she could come up with a remark, Tori’s hand squeezed her shoulder. She whipped around, intent on telling Tori not to touch her, but found herself unable to speak when she was met with Tori’s warm smile. 

Tori hadn’t smiled at her like that for a long time - not since she and Beck had broken up and she had turned up on Tori’s doorstep lost and in tears. 

Since then, they’d gone back to mostly being enemies. Apparently, their “date” at Nozu had Tori trying once again for friendship. 

She didn’t smile back, but she also allowed Tori’s hand to remain where it was. She let Tori touch her a lot without complaint, she noticed. 

Instead of sitting in her normal spot between Andre and Cat, Tori sat herself down on the other side of Jade. 

Jade raised an eyebrow, tilting her head in curiosity at the other girl. 

Tori shrugged her shoulders, offering another smile, this time a hesitant one. 

Everyone in the group looked towards them in surprise. 

“What are you looking at?” Jade snapped, glaring back. 

“Nothing!” exclaimed Robbie with panic. 

Andre looked mildly scared. His fear elevated when Cat opened her mouth to say something. Andre’s hand shot out to cover the redhead’s mouth. “Don’t say anything, Red. I don’t wanna get an ass-whooping.” 

Beck didn’t say anything, instead offering his girlfriend an encouraging smile. Jade rolled her eyes but didn’t even try to push Tori away from her. 

Tori shifted in her seat to grab something out of her lunchbox, the movement causing her body to brush gently against Jade’s. 

Jade ignored the fluttering feeling that made it hard to finish her food.

* * *

The feelings never stopped after that. 

She couldn’t have stopped them even if she wanted to. It was kind of hard to do so when she started spending more time hanging out with Tori, their antagonistic rivalry officially over. 

It was even harder when she finally gathered the courage to invite Tori over to her house and Jade watched as the aspiring singer took in the green and purple hues of her basement room, the riot grrrl band posters that plastered the walls, and her collections of odd knick-knacks and expensive scissors that filled her shelves. 

When Tori turned around after taking stock of everything around her, there was a bright smile on her face. “You know, I never thought I’d get to see your room.” 

Jade smiled back, but rolled her eyes. “Don’t get used to it, Vega.”

* * *

“All I’m saying is it’s an amazing show!” exclaimed Andre, taking a sip of his Wahoo Punch, his arm resting behind his head. 

“The first four seasons were amazing. So was season six. The rest were garbage,” argued Beck. 

“You guys have been arguing about this for the last twenty minutes,” groaned Tori from her spot on her pink floral beach towel. 

“'Cause Beck won’t admit it’s masterpiece television!” Andre turned to Robbie and Cat, who were curled up on a towel beside Tori. “Cat, come on, help me out here.” 

“It’s a good show,” the redhead shrugged. “Nina Dobrev kinda looks like Tori.” 

“Everyone always says that,” said Tori, looking up with an annoyed expression before her head disappeared back into the makeshift pillow of her arms. 

Jade sighed when she felt a finger tap on her shoulder. She opened her eyes behind her sunglasses, turning sharply towards the source of her ruined relaxation - her ex-boyfriend. 

“What?” she whispered. 

Beck leaned in, cupping his hand over his mouth so nobody could see his lips move. “You told me once that you thought Nina Dobrev was attractive,” he said conspiratorially. 

“So what?” she asked, pushing down the blush that threatened to find its way to her cheeks. 

“Tori looks like Nina Dobrev,” he said with a teasing grin. 

“Fuck off, Oliver.” This time, she couldn’t stop the light blush that formed. 

He winked before leaning back in his beach chair. 

The two of them, after talking about it extensively at the end of junior year, had decided on a mutual breakup. For good, this time. There would be no more splitting up only to run back into each other’s arms days later. The last night before summer officially began, she had told him she was pretty sure she was more interested in girls than in boys and that she wasn’t sure if she loved him the way she thought she once had. She had expected a full-blown argument to stem from her confession, but it never did. Instead, he sat her down on his bed, made her a meal, and talked with her about both her feelings and his. She could tell he was hurt, that the end of their nearly three-year-long relationship was leaving him on the verge of tears, but he was also doing his best to be supportive. 

_“I don’t want you to feel trapped in a relationship with me if you’re feeling confused. I love you too much to do that to you,” he had said._

The group’s trip to Disneyland the day after their breakup had been extremely awkward. When Beck had shown up that day, it had been clear from his red and puffy eyes that a good portion of his night had been spent crying. He didn’t talk to her the whole day. But, since then, they’d worked their way back to a steady friendship. 

“Jade?” Andre called her name.

“Huh?” she asked, being brought back into the present. 

“Do you like TVD?” 

Jade rolled her eyes underneath her sunglasses. “You’re still on that?” 

“Jade loves it, actually,” interjected Beck, earning him a rather hard smack on the arm from Jade. “Owww!” he said with a laugh. 

“It’s not...terrible,” she grumbled.

She leaned back in her reclined chair and interlocked her fingers behind her head, angling herself so she could secretly look at the half-Latina sprawled out in the sand. Her eyes raked over the tanned olive skin of Tori’s long legs. God, they went on for miles. Her gaze went higher, lingering on Tori’s firm ass. Somewhere in the back of her head, she chastised herself for staring at her friend’s pretty body. She knew the appropriate and respectful thing to do would be to look away, but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Tori was just too pretty and it really wasn’t fair how attractive Jade found her. She felt a familiar ache begin to form and she shifted to find a more comfortable position. Not in front of their friends. Nope. 

Tori must have worked out regularly since the last time Jade saw her in a bikini because when the girl propped herself up on her elbows, long and lean muscles rolled in her back. Jade shut her eyes quickly and turned her head away. She was going to have to excuse herself pretty soon if she kept looking. 

An hour later, after locating Robbie and Cat, who had wandered off into the ocean, and dragging them back to the sand, she was washing herself off underneath an outdoor beach shower when she heard Tori walk behind her. She turned around in time to see Tori slip off her towel and set it to the side. Tori adjusted the strap of her sky blue bikini top as she stepped underneath the showerhead next to Jade’s, humming as she turned it on. 

Jade forced herself to face the brick wall in front of her, but she couldn’t stop herself from watching Tori out of the corners of her eyes. Tori’s hands worked their way through her tangled hair, and Jade’s eyes rested on Tori’s breasts, smaller than Jade’s own but still beautiful.

_“Jade,” moaned Tori._

_Jade’s breath hitched as she held Tori by the waist with one arm, the other crawling up the expanse of the half-Latina’s stomach to cup a breast. “You have no idea what you do to me,” Jade whispered against the soft flesh of Tori’s neck._

_She pressed a gentle kiss there._

“Jade?” 

“What?” she snapped, turning her head as her cheeks flushed.

 _Shit_ , she’d definitely been caught. 

“You were staring,” said Tori with a raised eyebrow. 

“No I wasn’t.” 

“Yes, you w-” 

“No,” Jade interrupted, her voice firm. “I wasn’t.” 

Tori glared at her and, although Jade could tell the other girl wanted to say something, she bit her tongue. “Okay. You weren’t. I’m sorry.” 

“Whatever,” she said, stepping out from underneath the showerhead and reaching for her towel to dry herself off. “You done?” 

Tori nodded, following suit. “Yeah, let’s head back to Beck’s car.”

* * *

“We just have to stop by my house on the way. There’re some spices and stuff I need to grab,” informed Beck as he looked over his shoulder to make a lane change. 

“So you’re the designated chef for tonight?” asked Jade.

“Yes ma’am, I am,” he smiled. “Well, me and Tori.” 

Jade snorted. “Tori doesn’t know how to cook.” 

She expected some sort of remark or protest from her friend but, instead, she felt the soft thump of a head against her shoulder. _It wasn’t...was it?_ She glanced to her left, in disbelief that Tori Vega of all people had seemingly fallen asleep on her shoulder. 

But, if the very distinct brunette head wasn’t enough proof for her, Cat confirmed it. 

“Awwwww,” whispered Cat from the third row of seats. “Tori’s asleep.” 

Beck checked to make sure the road was safe before glancing behind him, a look of surprise on his face. “Wow.” He flashed Jade a smile. “Can’t believe you let that happen.”

Jade rolled her eyes, flipping him off. “Like I had a choice.” 

Their rivalry might have been over, but Jade wouldn’t admit she’d gone soft on Tori Vega. 

“Don’t wake up the princess,” laughed Andre from the passenger seat. 

Jade glanced down at Tori’s sleeping form again, noting her slumped posture and the odd angle of her neck bent to lean heavily on Jade. “That can’t be comfortable,” she muttered, mostly to herself. 

“Do you care?” asked Robbie from his spot next to Cat. 

“Did I say I did?” she snapped. 

“No,” squeaked Robbie, falling silent. 

Jade huffed, trying to figure out a way to make Tori more comfortable without waking her up. Slowly, she tried to push on Tori’s shoulder to prop her up but stopped when Tori began mumbling. The half-Latina pushed herself back down onto Jade, digging her head into the crook of Jade’s neck rather uncomfortably. 

Jade rested her head in her hand, resigned to being pinned between Tori and the car door for the rest of the ride. She turned her head towards Beck. “Why’s Tori grilling with you tonight?” 

Beck shrugged his shoulders, not taking his eyes off the road. “‘Cause, other than me, she’s the only one who can make a proper meal.” 

“Last time I ate one of her ‘meals’ it was those spicy tuna balls she made for Ryder,” shuddered Andre.

“Fuck Ryder.” It was out of Jade’s mouth before she could stop herself. 

Beck turned his head to give her an odd look before re-focusing his gaze and making another lane change. “You haven’t eaten anything she’s made this summer. She’s become a good cook.” 

She raised her eyebrows. “How would you know?”

She didn’t mean for the question to sound as accusatory as it did. 

She heard Beck take a breath, as if preparing himself for some sort of argument. She couldn’t really blame him. They’d gotten into plenty of those while they were dating. 

He spoke cautiously. “We’ve been...hanging out most weeks. And she wanted to learn how to cook, grill, bake, ya know, the works. So I taught her.” 

“Oh.” 

She didn’t know why she felt a rush of jealousy. Tori had made it clear on multiple occasions that she wasn’t interested in Beck. And Beck had always insisted that he wasn’t going after Tori when he was dating her, but maybe that was different now that they weren’t together. 

So that was where Tori was whenever she texted and said that she was busy. 

Jade fell silent, crossing her arms and looking out the window at the shitty California traffic. 

A few minutes later, when she was knocked out of her thoughts by the warm breath against her neck, she felt her body relax.

* * *

She watched in annoyance as Beck and Tori laughed while they grilled the group’s cheeseburger and hot dog dinner. 

It seemed like Beck had taught her well; Tori moved around the outdoor grill like she’d known what she was doing since she was a kid. Whereas before Tori would refuse to even pick up a spatula, she was flipping burgers with ease as she whistled to herself. 

The scene looked so natural and serene and it was adorable. 

But watching Tori and Beck crack jokes and move around each other like they had always been this in sync had her frustrated. She poured a generous amount of peach Svedka into her red solo cup, setting the big pink bottle back down in front of her before knocking back her cup. Ignoring the look on Robbie’s face, she wiped the dribble from her lips. 

“Just to double-check, we’ve all got Sikowitz for acting last period, right?” asked Andre, scrolling through his Fall semester schedule on his PearPhone. 

“Yep,” responded the rest of the group who sat around Jade’s marble fire pit. 

“I can’t believe tomorrow’s the start of our last year,” murmured Cat, a sullen frown on her face as her hands fidgeted in her lap. 

Andre pressed the power button on his phone, shoving it into his jacket pocket before zipping it up. “I don’t think any of us really wanna think about that,” he replied with a furrowed brow. “Right Jade?” 

She took another decent-sized sip of her drink. “It’s whatever,” was what she said.

It wasn’t. Not really. Thankfully, they were all going to the same college, so it wasn’t like this next year was their goodbye. But, still, it was the ending of a significant chapter in their lives and in their friendships. Actually, she felt it was more like the ending of a whole novel, and college would be the sequel. There were still so many things she desperately wanted to write in this one, though; she wasn’t ready to reach the back cover. 

“Okay, kiddos, dinner’s ready!” exclaimed Beck, as he and Tori headed over with multiple plates of hamburger meat, cheese, bacon, hot dogs, buns, and a few condiments. 

They set them down on the round table by the fire pit, though Tori had an extra one in hand that she held out to Jade. The brunette gave her a small smile, waiting for Jade to accept the plate. “Bacon cheeseburger with two pieces of cheese, light ketchup, and a hot dog with a little relish.” When Jade didn’t move, instead looking at her with a raised eyebrow in silence, Tori started to look uncomfortable. “I, uhm, this is what you made yourself last time we all did this at your house so I just thought I’d make it for you,” she stammered. 

Tori... _remembered the exact meal?_ Jade had to stop herself from overreacting to the kind gesture. She offered a small smile as her heart fluttered softly. “Thanks, Vega.” 

Tori nodded, looking at the empty seat to Jade’s left. “May I?”

“Go ahead.” 

When Tori took her seat, Jade picked a Smirnoff Ice off the floor and handed it to Tori. “Since you like the weak stuff,” she added, a playful smirk on her face. 

Tori twisted the cap off with a little help from her bright pink shirt. “I can have stronger stuff. It just doesn’t taste as good.” 

“My name is Sweet Sally Peaches and I _can_ consume strong alcohol. I just choose not to because it doesn’t taste very good,” mocked Jade, slipping into the overly-sweet and country girl-esque voice she used to impersonate Tori.

Tori glared at her, taking a large sip of her drink. “I will hit you,” she grumbled and leaned over to reach the assortment of plates to make her meal. 

“You can try,” challenged Jade, a daring look on her face.

To her surprise, Tori instantly abandoned the burger she was in the process of making and tried to swat Jade’s arm. 

Jade caught her wrist easily, tugging Tori towards her in the process. With a noise of surprise, Tori narrowly avoided falling completely into the goth’s lap, her body hanging over the side of her chair and her head mere inches away from Jade’s. Jade froze for a second, drinking in Tori’s charming wide-eyed expression. Her eyes darted down to Tori’s soft make-up free lips and remained there for a moment as she contemplated making a very stupid decision. 

She let go of Tori’s wrist, pulling away from the other girl in a hurry. She turned her head to hide her nervous swallow as Tori shrunk back into her seat, a dazed look taking over her pretty features. “Nice try.” Jade’s voice lacked its usual confidence. 

Tori didn’t have a response, giving her one last stunned look before clearing her throat and hastily finishing the creation of her burger. 

Jade opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t figure out how to ease the sudden tension she felt floating through the air. 

_Nice fucking job, West,_ she mentally kicked herself.

She looked down at her plate and decided to try the bacon cheeseburger first since she knew Tori had been in charge of the burgers. One tentative bite led to an almost immediate larger bite and she actually had to stop herself from _moaning_ out loud. 

_Holy hell_. Tori had gone from abysmal spicy tuna balls to _this_? 

Beck wasn’t kidding when he said she knew how to cook now. It wasn’t Beck-level good; he was the king of the grill. But it was damn near close. 

Tori turned, watching Jade eat. When she spoke, her voice betrayed her nervousness, like she was waiting for Jade’s approval. “Good?”

 _It was fucking fantastic_. But because she was Jade and this was Tori, she flashed her a small smile and said: “It’s edible.” 

Tori offered a convincing grin, but Jade could see her face fall briefly before the mask set in place. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She turned away and took a sip of her Smirnoff Ice. 

For the second time that night, she wanted to hit herself. It was so _fucking_ obvious that Tori was hoping for her approval but, of course, because Jade was Jade, she didn’t give it to her. 

Picking up her red solo cup, she peered inside, seeing that she had around one-third of the contents left, and drank the rest. The vodka, even with its peach flavor, was difficult to swallow as it cascaded down her throat. The burn left behind almost caused her to outwardly react, but she toughed it out. 

She listened in silence to Beck’s stories from his summer job as a pool lifeguard, eating in her seat with her legs curled up to her chest. Some were stupid and some were funny, but the ones that had her interested were the ones that Tori was apparently a part of. 

She felt her chest tightening again, so when Andre finished his meal and asked if anyone wanted to join him in the hot tub, she jumped at the chance to get away from the group, bringing the whole peach Svedka bottle with her. 

Hastily, she threw off her pale blue shirt and black leggings, stepping into the already hot water of her family’s meticulously crafted stone hot tub in a black bikini. She quickly moved to the far end of the water and sank down, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. Andre must have recognized that she wanted to be left alone because, other than the sounds of him padding into the hot tub and sitting on the other side, he was silent.

* * *

Later that night, after relaxing in the hot tub, drinking a bit more than necessary, and playing a few card games with the rest of the group, Jade tugged on her red and black checkered flannel pajamas. 

After saying goodnight to the girls, the boys had retreated into the guest room with a bottle of whiskey and the intent to play a few more drinking games. 

She was giving herself a once-over in the mirror when there was a soft knock on the door. Opening the door, Jade was met with Tori’s shy smile, face flushed a little from the few Smirnoffs she had. 

“Is it alright if I brush my teeth?” asked Tori, holding up a plastic bag with a pink toothbrush and toothpaste. 

“Yeah, I’m done in here,” responded Jade, clumsily stepping to the side to allow Tori through before walking out, the door clicking shut behind her. 

She glanced at her carpet floor to find two sleeping bags that contrasted the dark greens and purples of her room. Cat occupied the bright red one, a perfect match for her hair. The other, a hot pink one with a floral pillow, belonged to Tori. Jade couldn’t help the amused snort that left her as she took a few moments to stare at it; Tori really loved pink. 

Tiptoeing around Cat’s lightly snoring form, Jade crossed her room to her walk-in closet and stepped inside. Thankfully and maybe contrary to what her friends thought, she was actually a pretty big neat freak when it came to keeping her room organized. Well, excluding her desk, which was more of a mess than she knew what to do with. She spotted her black sleeping bag immediately despite not using it since the first time she stayed over at Beck’s house. 

When she walked back into her room, Tori was already in her sleeping bag, PearPhone propped on her stomach and scrolling aimlessly through TheSlap. 

Tori glanced over at her, eyeing the sleeping bag. “You have a bed,” she pointed out. “A big bed.” 

Jade rolled her eyes and grabbed a black pillow from her king-sized bed before tossing her sleeping bag on the ground beside Tori. “I wouldn’t be a good host if I took my own bed while my guests slept on the floor.” 

Tori shut off her phone and raised an eyebrow. “You sure that’s your reason?” 

Placing her pillow down, Jade crawled into the sleeping bag and pulled the cover to her chest. “What other reason would I have?” 

Tori rolled over onto her side to face Jade, using her elbow to hold her head up. “Being next to your friends, maybe?”

“Keep dreaming, Vega,” said Jade, though the smirk on her face was playful. 

Tori pouted and _oh wow she looked adorable when she did that_. “Whatever, West. Get some sleep, big day tomorrow.” She rolled over so she was no longer facing Jade, snuggling into her pillow, and Jade found that she missed being able to look at Tori’s face. 

Jade hesitated as she stared at the back of Tori’s head, unsure if she should say what was on her mind. “Tori?” she called the other girl’s name with uncertainty. 

“Huh?” mumbled the aspiring singer, not turning around. 

It took her a while to get the words out of her mouth. “Thank you for the meal earlier. It was really good.” 

For almost a full minute, there was complete silence, and Jade was about to close her eyes, thinking Tori must have fallen asleep, when the other girl spoke quietly, her words barely above a whisper. “I’m glad you liked it.” 

Minutes later, the half-Latina’s breathing had evened out and she was fast asleep. 

If Jade pulled her sleeping bag closer to Tori’s before shutting her eyes, it was the alcohol’s fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! This is an idea that I really couldn't get out of my head, so I had to at least write the first chapter, especially since it's almost the ten year anniversary of Victorious.
> 
> I will continue to update this and The Fire We Were Burning, but I am unsure which should take priority. I hope you enjoyed :)


	2. Jealousy and Texts from You

Jade pushed her way through the throng of students, making her way to her locker as fast as she could. The loud clash of screaming guitar and raspy vocals filled her ears as Heavens to Betsy thundered through her PearPod Pros. The first week of senior year was over and done with, and she wanted nothing more than to get home and collapse in bed. 

She just had to grab her stupid U.S. Government and Politics textbook and then she could hop in her midnight blue Camaro SS and be left alone for the next two-and-a-half days. 

Except Beck had to ruin her plans, of course. 

In the years they had been close to one another, she’d come to know what his exact presence felt like and, as she reached her locker, she felt him making his way toward her. She did her best to ignore him, spinning her combination lock as Beck came to a stop behind her. Opening the locker, she grabbed her textbook. Just when she started to unzip her backpack, Beck must have realized she had earbuds in, because his fingers pinched the bottom of her PearPod Pros, shutting off the noise-canceling mode. 

“Hey there, grumpypants,” he greeted, a smile on his face as she turned to face him. 

She sighed in annoyance, pulling the PearPods out of her ears and putting them back in the case. “What do you want?” 

He shrugged and leaned against the row of lockers, making it clear he wasn’t planning on going anywhere. “You’ve seemed off all week,” he stated nonchalantly. 

Jade raised her eyebrows as she placed the book in her bag and closed it, intent on walking away as fast as possible. “Oh, have I?” she said, sarcasm dripping from her words. 

“Yeah,” replied Beck, running a hand through his messy hair. “You have, actually.” 

“How so?” She closed her locker, already starting to walk away before he could answer when his hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. 

She stopped, turning around with a huff. 

When he eyed her, seemingly trying to figure out if she would run the second he released her, she rolled her eyes. “You can let go now.” 

Beck gave her one last uncertain look before letting go of her wrist, stuffing his hand in his pocket. “First off, you haven’t walked around 24/7 with earbuds in since before we started dating,” he pointed out.

And, well, he had her there.

She shrugged, tapping her foot impatiently. “So?”

“So, who are you trying to avoid?” 

“Who said I was trying to avoid anyone?”

Beck breathed in deeply, shaking his head. “You’re trying to frustrate me so I’ll leave you alone, aren’t you?” 

She flashed him a faux smile, batting her eyelashes. “Is it working?” 

He smiled back, causing her to glare at him. “No. Do we need to take this to the janitor’s closet?” 

“You try grabbing me again and I will stab you with my scissors,” she said, her hand resting on the waistband of her skirt for emphasis. 

He scoffed, trying to remain indifferent, but Jade could tell he _was_ starting to get frustrated. “Aside from lunch, you’ve barely hung out with anyone except Cat since Tuesday,” he pressed.

“I’ve been busy,” she said with a straight face. 

“I...You know what? Whatever, Jade. I’m here if you need me.” 

He crossed the hallway without another word, disappearing deeper into the school. 

She blinked in surprise before guilt started to creep up on her. 

Since lunch on Tuesday, she _had_ done her best to avoid Tori and Beck. Andre was Tori’s best friend and Robbie was always by Beck’s side these days, so she was also unintentionally avoiding them. She could get Cat to do whatever she wanted, though, so she’d convinced the redhead to spend the week hanging out with her. 

Her reasoning was stupid and if she said it out loud, she would probably even laugh at herself. But their time spent together over summer had clearly made Beck and Tori closer to each other. They were practically attached at the hip throughout the whole week, and Jade was jealous. She honestly couldn’t figure out if they were dating or not and, if they were, she would probably throw scissors at Beck. 

She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet before pulling her keys out of her backpack and heading to her car.

* * *

On Saturday night, while lounging in bed and catching up on Netflix, her phone buzzed with a notification from the group chat. She unlocked her PearPhone and opened up her messages, clicking on “Hollywood Arts Idiots”. Originally, she’d had a very different name in mind for the chat, but Beck had forced her to keep it PG for Cat. 

_Beck: Dave & Buster’s after school on Monday?_

Before Jade could even think about her response, her phone vibrated again. 

_Tori: Yep!_

Her blank expression turned into a scowl at the speed of Tori’s reply. 

Over the next ten minutes, the rest of the group replied with different variations of “yes” and Jade found herself still staring down at her screen, unsure how to respond. 

She knew she _should_ hang out with her friends; they would probably be disappointed if she didn’t. But, at the same time, she really didn’t want to spend hours feeling like she was third-wheeling two of her closest friends. She tossed her phone to the bottom of her bed without replying.

Adjusting the purple fluffy pillow behind her head, she resumed her binge-watch until her mom called her down for dinner. 

She ate her spaghetti and meatballs in silence, picking up bits and pieces of her mother's lecture to her younger brother, but she was struggling to pay complete attention.

“No, Stephanie can’t stay the night, Richard. And that’s final.” 

“But Jade had guys spend the night on Sunday,” pouted Richard, crossing his arms. 

Her mother cleared her throat and set down her fork. “Well, first of all, Jade is eighteen-years-old and responsible. You’re in middle school. And, second of all, they stayed in the guest room. The only ones who spent the night in her room were Cat and...what’s the name of the other young lady - Victoria?” 

“She prefers Tori,” mumbled Jade, biting into a meatball as she stared at the table. 

“Does she?” Her mother smiled, turning so that she was fully facing Jade. “How is Tori? Are you two close now?” 

Jade hid as much of her face behind her plate as she could, trying to repress the flush she felt. “She’s fine,” Jade grumbled. “And we’ve been friends for a long time now, mom.” 

Her mom picked up her glass of red wine, taking a small sip. “Really? Well, I wouldn’t know. You don’t talk about her much. The last time you brought her up to me, you said she was insufferable.” 

She winced at her previous harsh words from the first semester that Tori was at Hollywood Arts. Even though the half-Latina had never been anything but nice to her and had always tried to be her friend, Jade had been cruel and vicious. That whole semester wasn’t her proudest moment. “Yeah, well, things change.” 

“I guess they do.” 

Strangely, Richard didn’t complain again for the rest of the dinner. When Jade finished her meal, she pushed her seat back and stood up, grabbing her plate. 

Mom wiped at her lips with a napkin before sitting back in her seat. “Would you mind taking my plates too?”

She nodded, making her way around their mahogany dining table, but her brother was already grabbing mom’s plate. 

“I got it, mom! Don’t worry,” he said with a strange look of mischievousness.

“Thank you, dear.” 

Jade narrowed her eyes at her little brother, who balanced their mom’s dishes and his own as he scurried into the kitchen. What was the little idiot up to? 

When she made her way into their expansive kitchen, her brother was by the dishwasher, but he wasn’t cleaning the plates like he was supposed to. Instead, they were stacked in a neat pile on the counter where he sat, kicking his legs aimlessly. She crossed the kitchen, passing by the large granite island in the center. 

“What are you up to?” she asked, her voice full of suspicion. 

“Nothing,” he said, but the guilty look on his face gave him away. 

“You’re a terrible actor,” she pointed out. 

She turned on the sink’s water and grabbed a sponge to start cleaning the dishes. 

Richard stuck his tongue out. “Yeah, well I’m not the one who goes to a performing arts school.” 

“Spill it, Dick.” 

“You know I don’t like that nickname,” he frowned. 

She smirked, setting plate after plate into the dishwasher after giving them a quick clean with the sponge. “I know. Now talk.”

Her brother fell silent for a moment, staring at his feet as he kicked his legs around. She was about to tell him to stop squirming around when he spoke. “Do you like Tori?” 

Jade snorted, trying to cover up the sense of discomfort she was starting to feel. “Yeah, she’s my friend.” She closed the dishwasher once she was done with the last of the plates and started its wash cycle. 

Richard shook his head, fiddling with his thumbs. He leaned closer to her, whispering conspiratorially. “I mean do you _like like_ Tori?” 

Thankfully, her years at Hollywood Arts had turned her into a very convincing actor, so her laugh sounded natural. “You know I like guys, right? Or did you already forget about Beck, who you told me you thought was the coolest guy since Freddie Mercury?” 

Inside, she was panicking a little bit. No one except Beck knew she was into girls and no one knew she had feelings for Tori. IF her little brother was suspicious, how many other people were too? 

“I guess,” mumbled her brother with a nod, the expression on his face telling her he believed her. 

“Now go play video games with Stiles or something and leave me alone.” 

Her brother hopped off the counter, practically sprinting up the stairs. 

Shortly after, she descended the stairs to her room and made her way to her bathroom to get ready for bed. She stripped from her clothes and turned the water on as warm as she could handle. Humming to herself, she tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, letting herself relax in the heat. 

After a while, she noticed her skin was starting to get pruney, so she quickly soaped up her body and washed off. When she stepped out of the shower, steam misted behind her. She looked at her two towels, contemplating for a moment before grabbing the dark green one and drying off. She brushed her teeth and slipped into white and purple plaid pajamas. 

Her hair was still a bit damp but she was too tired to care. She yawned and turned off the light before getting into bed. She grabbed her PearPhone from where she had tossed it earlier. The screen lit up and she realized she had two new text notifications - one from forty-five minutes ago and one from twenty minutes ago. 

_Tori: Jadelyn_

_Tori: Jadelynnnnnnn_

Jade couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face as she stared at the messages. They were just messages, and yet Jade still felt so much of Tori’s personality through them. She couldn’t help but feel captivated by the screen. 

_Jade: What?_

She didn’t have to wait long for the brunette girl’s response. 

_Tori: Why are you ignoring the group?_

With a sigh, she realized she probably should have expected that Tori would call her out on her odd behavior, just like Beck. There was no way she was telling Tori the truth, at least not now, but she wasn’t really sure how to respond, so she just did the most Jade West thing she could do. 

_Jade: I’m not._

_Tori: Yes you are._

_Jade: No I’m not._

_Tori: Stop being a gank and come to Dave & Buster’s with us._

_Tori: We’ll grab food and play some arcade games. It’ll be fun_

_Jade: Fine, but you’re coming over and spending the night afterwards._

The text was already fully typed out and delivered before she even really processed what she was sending. She bit the fingernail on her thumb as nerves coursed through her, chewing a few bits and pieces off as she waited impatiently for Tori’s response. 

Two minutes later, she was about to bury her head underneath her pillow in embarrassment when she saw the three dots appear on her screen. She waited, tapping her fingers against the crook of her elbow.

_Tori: I’m picking the movie. We’re not watching The Scissoring again._

Jade laughed at Tori’s response, the nervous energy she had previously felt quickly fading away as she allowed herself to relax. She pulled her covers higher and positioned her head in between two pillows. 

_Jade: Why not?_

_Jade: You said you really liked it._

_Tori: I do but it gives me nightmares_

_Tori: So unless you’re planning on holding me after, I suggest we go with my pick_

If Jade had been drinking the water on her bedside table at that moment, she was sure she would be choking on it. Her heart rate started to pick up and, suddenly, any bit of sleepiness she had begun to feel was wiped away. That had to have been a joke, right? Why would Tori bring something like that up out of nowhere? There was no way Tori knew her secret. Beck knew Jade liked girls, but he didn’t know that she liked Tori. And there was no way Beck would mention anything, even though he seemed extremely close to the half-Latina recently. He wasn’t like that. 

It had to have just been banter between friends. Yeah, that was all it was. 

She took a deep breath before typing out a reply. 

_Jade: Your pick it is then_

_Tori: I’ll see you Monday then?_

_Jade: See you Monday_

_Tori: Kk. G’night Jade_

_Jade: Night Tori_

She looked at her PearPhone for a few more moments before shutting off the screen and putting it down. She placed her hands on her stomach and interlocked her fingers, closing her eyes. 

She remained like that for a while, focusing on getting her breathing to even out and her mind to stop racing. Her attempts were in vain, though. She wasn’t the least bit tired anymore. How could she be after Tori’s text? 

With a frustrated groan, she gave up, her eyes opening as she stared at the ceiling. She supposed she could get up and do something, but she didn’t know what. She wasn’t going to go hang out with anyone so late at night, and most of her friends were probably asleep anyway. Her mind was too cloudy to work on the script she was writing. And playing video games wasn’t appealing at the moment. 

The image of the both of them in her bed, her body spooning Tori’s in a protective embrace to calm her down after a scary movie, was impossible to get out of her head.

* * *

“Jade West, please report to Counselor Lane’s office immediately,” the school’s PA system crackled. 

Sikowitz winced as the noise interrupted his lecture, covering his ears to protect himself from the harsh sound. “Good Gandhi!” he exclaimed. 

Jade got up out of her seat, glancing at Tori, who sat next to her. The brunette raised an eyebrow, the look on her face clearly asking “what did you do?”. Jade shrugged as she grabbed her bag, just as unsure as Tori. She hadn’t been called into Lane’s in nearly an entire semester, and she honestly had no idea why she was being called in now. They’d only been back to school for one full week. There was nothing she had done in that timeframe to warrant her getting in trouble. 

“I’ll see you later,” she mouthed to Tori, who smiled in return. 

She passed the last row of seats, her eyes falling on Beck, who seemed to be pointedly avoiding her gaze, his arms crossed over his chest as he stared straight ahead. She didn’t think much of it as she walked out of the classroom, crossing the hall to Counselor Lane’s office. 

Jade pushed the door open without knocking. “I didn’t do anything,” she said, walking into the center of the room. 

Lane, who had previously been half asleep at his desk, jumped in surprise. 

While she waited for him to recover, Jade took in the room around her. Not much had changed since the last time she had been called in. The room was still very nature-esque, with lots of wood finishing and brown colors. He had obviously taken good care of the plants that hung by the window behind his cluttered desk. Some pictures had been shuffled around and new ones added. It looked like he had replaced his torn carpet with a brand new one as well. Otherwise, it looked the exact same. 

Lane took a sip of water before motioning for her to take a seat. “I didn’t say you did anything.” He gave her a friendly smile. 

She collapsed onto one of the bamboo swing chairs, turning it to face his desk. “Then why am I here?” 

“Well, one of your classmates came by and expressed their concerns about you. So, I called you in for a chat,” he explained, pulling out a black ballpoint pen and notepad. 

“Their concerns about me?” scoffed Jade. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“Yes, Jade, their concerns about you. And I’m not quite sure what it means, which is why you’re here. Would you like to talk about anything?”

She frowned in concentration, racking her brain for who could have talked to Counselor Lane. Cat definitely wouldn’t have. She had no reason to. Tori probably didn’t. She’d never gone to Counselor Lane willingly about anything before. And she was the type of person who would either remain silent or confront someone directly. Nobody else in their group came to mind either, except for... _Beck_. 

She crossed her arms, feeling very annoyed. “It was Beck, wasn’t it?” 

“I’m actually not allowed to tell you.”

It didn’t matter. She knew she was right. “He came to you Friday after school, right?” 

Lane sighed. “Jade, I just said-”

She cut him off, aware that at any time she could be in trouble for her actions. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t know what he told you, but I’m fine.” 

“You’re being awfully defensive,” he noted. “All I asked was if you wanted to talk.” 

She almost snapped at him, but she stopped herself from doing so. He was just doing his job, she reminded herself. “I don’t. Thank you though.” 

He looked disappointed. In himself or her, she couldn’t tell. “Okay. I won’t push. I want you kids to feel safe here. So, if you do want to talk, feel free to knock.” 

She was back up on her feet the moment he finished speaking. “I don’t think that’ll happen, but I appreciate it.” 

She could feel Counselor Lane’s questioning stare as she walked out of the room without another word. When she walked back into Sikowitz’s, there was only five minutes left of class. She glared at Beck as she passed by but, once again, he wasn’t looking at her. 

“Ah, Jade!” exclaimed Sikowitz, clapping his hands together. “Welcome back.” 

She nodded at him before sliding back into her seat, letting her bag fall to the floor. As Sikowitz began addressing the class again, she felt Tori’s warm breath near her ear. 

“What did Lane want?” 

Jade tilted her head to whisper back, painfully aware of just how close their faces were. “It was nothing.”

Tori was unconvinced. “You sure?”

Jade rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Yes, Vega, I’m sure.” 

“Okay,” she conceded before leaning a bit closer. “You excited for tonight?”

“Why, are you?” Jade asked curiously. She didn’t show it, but she was hoping Tori was looking forward to their sleepover as much as she was. 

“Maybe.” There was a small smile on Tori’s face before she added, “Yeah, I am.” 

“I am too.” 

They fell silent, both of their gazes still resting on one another. Tori must have realized how close together they were, because Jade watched as the brunette’s tanned skin turned a light shade of red. 

Whatever Tori was feeling, she was saved from it when Sikowitz clapped loudly. 

“No homework for the weekend! Have fun kids!” 

“Uh, Sikowitz, it’s Monday,” Andre pointed out. 

A thoughtful frown appeared on Sikowitz’s face as he stroked his bearded chin. “Oh! Still no homework.” With a sip of a coconut, he waved them out of the classroom. “Now go! Live life.” 

“Do you have a ride?” asked Jade, keeping herself away from Tori’s personal bubble. She was suddenly nervous to get too close to the half-Latina. 

Tori nodded and, when Jade’s eyes slid down to the half-Latina’s neck, she noticed her skin had returned to its normal color. 

“Yeah, Andre’s gonna take me.” 

_Figures_. She was a little disappointed, but not surprised. Tori usually always rode with Andre if the group wasn’t all going in one car. Still, it was a missed opportunity to spend more time with the girl she liked. At least she had tonight to look forward to.

Besides, she had a bone to pick with someone else anyway. 

“I’ll see you there.” Jade pulled her bag over her shoulder, walking past Tori, who was still putting her notes away. “I have to go talk to Beck.” 

“Bye Jade.” 

Jade stopped at what she thought was a slight tone of disapproval in Tori’s voice. But, when she turned around, Tori’s normal friendly smile was plastered on her face. 

_Huh_. She shook it off, figuring her ears had probably deceived her, and made her way to the back corner where Beck was talking to Robbie. Out of the corners of her eyes, she saw Andre and Tori chatting animatedly as they walked out of the classroom. 

“Oliver,” Jade barked, startling Robbie, who shuffled further into the corner in an attempt to hide himself. 

Beck didn’t even flinch at her tone, instead turning around with a smile. Underneath it, though, it was obvious he knew he was in trouble with her. “Hey Jade, what’s up?” 

“Robbie, I need to talk to Beck alone.” 

“Yep, no problemo. I’ll see you guys later,” said Robbie, grabbing Rex and his backpack before scurrying away.

“See ya, Rob!” Beck called after their friend before sighing as he turned to face Jade. “I know what you’re gonna say.” 

She laughed humorlessly. “Why the _fuck_ did you tell Counselor Lane you were worried about me?” 

He ran a hand through his Elvis hair. Jade could tell he was trying to put them both at ease when he relaxed his posture. “Because I _am_ worried about you, Jade. You’ve been acting strange all week. You’ve been doing your damned best to ignore everyone except Cat. This is the most antisocial you’ve been since you and I started dating!”

“I’ve been -” 

Beck cut her off with a harsh roll of his eyes. “Don’t give me that ‘I’ve been busy’ crap, Jade. I know we’re not together anymore.” Jade watched as Beck moved his jaw back and forth, a tick of his when he was upset about something. “But that doesn’t change the fact that we’ve been through a lot together. I know you. And I know when something is off about you.” 

Her face softened as he spoke. The anger that she previously felt was slowly seeping out of her and she couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around her friend. In her frustration, she had forgotten that Beck only ever wanted the best for her. It made her feel guilty for being so angry when he was only trying to help. “Why go to Counselor Lane though?” she asked when they both pulled away from the hug. 

He shrugged, a sheepish smile on his face. “Normally when you’re upset, you come to me. But, on Friday, you made it clear that you didn’t want to talk to me about whatever’s bothering you. I probably should have left it alone, but you’re still my friend. So, I figured if you wouldn’t talk to me, maybe Lane could get you to open up.” 

She smiled, punching him lightly on the arm. “You’re gonna make me cry, Oliver.” 

He chuckled. “We wouldn’t want that now, would we?”

“No. No, we wouldn’t.” 

He picked up his bag, his look turning concerned. “I won’t bring it up again. But promise me you’re doing okay.” 

She stood up on her toes and wrapped an arm around his neck to give him a side-squeeze. “I’m dealing with it.”

He nodded, satisfied with her answer. “Let’s catch up with our friends, then.”

* * *

The first thing they did was get food at the small sports restaurant area. It wasn’t anything fancy but she had to admit the wood and brick finishing alongside the massive televisions that surrounded them gave off a rather cozy feel. They occupied a large booth since there were so many of them. Jade purposely made sure she sat next to Tori, sliding around Cat to get into the booth after the brunette. Cat squeaked in surprise, but didn’t complain or say anything. 

As the group looked over the menus, Beck became enraptured by the TVs, completely tuning out the rest of the group. She glanced up at one of them. They were playing an old pay-per-view UFC event, one she recognized from watching with her ex-boyfriend. It was the main event of UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre. Georges St-Pierre was Beck’s favorite fighter, partially because they both were Canadian. 

Jade nudged Tori, pointing towards one of the TVs with a smile. “You ever watched?” 

Tori shook her head, watching as Bruce Buffer introduced the fighters. “No. It looks like boxing.” 

The waiter came by to take their orders, interrupting them for a brief minute. Tori ordered a garden salad, which had Jade rolling her eyes. The brunette wasn’t the most overly-concerned about what she put in her body, but she was definitely a little more health-conscious than Jade thought was necessary. That was Vega though. Always worried. Always stressed. Even if she didn’t outwardly show it. It was up to Jade to show her some fun. 

“It’s not. It’s mixed martial arts,” she spoke up once the waiter had walked back to the kitchen. 

“There’s a difference?” asked a confused Tori. 

Jade snorted, a small laugh bubbling up in her throat. Beck would be fuming at Tori’s words if he was actually paying attention. “Yeah, there’s a difference. Boxing is punches to the head and body. MMA is a bunch of different martial arts disciplines. Boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, jiu-jitsu, wrestling. It’s really pretty amazing. It’s the only sport I really like watching.” She shrugged her shoulders and tilted her head down, messing with one of the strands of her hair as she got lost in her own rant. “These people put their health on the line for the fans like a modern-day gladiator match.” A smirk rested on her lips. “And, well, you know I like violence and stuff.” She stopped talking as her brain reminded her of who she was talking to. There was no way Tori Vega of all people would actually be interested in this particular hobby of hers. “Sorry, I’m rambling, aren’t I? You probably don’t care.” 

She looked at Tori, surprised when she saw her friend leaning forward and listening attentively. 

A bright smile formed on Tori’s lips. Jade felt her heart rate go up. “A little. But it’s cute. And if you’re interested in something, then of course I want to hear about it Jade. We’re friends.” Tori nudged her with her shoulder. “Maybe you could show me a live event sometime.”

Jade nodded along to Tori's suggestion, but she had stopped paying attention to what the half-Latina was saying after “cute”. Did Tori mean she found _her_ cute? Or did she just mean that she found Jade’s behavior cute? She sighed internally. Reading so much into what Tori said or did wouldn’t get her anywhere. But it wasn’t like she could help it. Her brain just...confused everything when it came to Tori. She wanted things to mean a lot more than they probably did.

When she finally refocused, Tori was still staring at her with a grin. 

This time, when Jade really looked, there was _something_ else in her friend’s eyes besides the normal happiness that illuminated them. 

She couldn’t figure that look out for the life of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Here's another chapter that I hope you'll enjoy.
> 
> Originally, I had this fic mapped out for five chapters. However, I think I might need to add one or two more, so I'm removing that placeholder for now. Also, in terms of when to expect uploads, I try my best to make sure I get a chapter done every week. However, I'm a pretty slow writer, so I think a chapter posted every two weeks for this fic is a bit more realistic. 
> 
> Let me know your thoughts if you'd like :)


	3. The Sleepover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I just wanted to say I appreciate all of the comments you guys have been leaving on this fic :)
> 
> It's really cool to see people enjoying it and it helps keep me motivated! I literally just want to lay in bed all day lol. 
> 
> That being said, I hope everyone likes this chapter.

After the group finished eating, they moved onto playing some of the various games around the arcade. And while Jade didn’t really have a problem with arcade games, they weren’t her favorite type of video game, so she found herself observing for the most part, only joining in when someone from the group dragged her into the fold. 

Jade quickly realized, however, that watching her friends, specifically Tori, play was its own form of entertainment. For all of the things Tori seemed naturally skilled at, there was no helping her on machines like Pac-Man. She was _abysmal_ at every game she tried. Although Jade tried her best, she couldn’t stop a few laughs from escaping her as they worked their way towards the back of Dave & Buster’s. The cute pout Tori sent her way each time she laughed was the icing on the cake. 

When Tori found minimal success on the racing games in the back, she grabbed Jade by the arm and tried to tug her away from the group.

“What, Vega?” laughed Jade, standing firm even with Tori’s increasing efforts. “Are you gonna drag me away and beat me up because you suck at arcade games?” 

“You’re laughing at me!” pouted Tori, pushing her bottom lip forward and trying to look upset, though Jade found it attractive. 

“You’re damn right I’m laughing at you,” Jade said in between laughs. 

“Yo!” called Andre, watching the two of them with amusement. “We’re heading over to play the basketball games. You guys coming?” 

Jade was about to say yes, when Tori shook her head.

“No,” she huffed. “I’m taking Jade to a game I know I’ll beat her at.” 

“I don’t think you could beat Andre’s grandma at one of these games, let alone me,” challenged Jade, a smirk growing on her lips at Tori’s outraged expression. 

“Watch it, West,” said Tori, narrowing her eyes. “I’m going to _destroy_ you for that comment.” 

“Bring it on.” 

Tori gave a quick wave to the rest of the group before renewing her efforts to pull Jade from her spot. With an amused and exaggerated sigh, Jade allowed herself to be dragged to the glowing blue and yellow air hockey tables in the center of the arcade. 

“Air hockey?” asked Jade with a raised eyebrow when Tori practically placed her at one side of the table before going to insert the coins. “You really think you can beat me at air hockey?” 

“I beat you at ping-pong when you thought I couldn’t, didn’t I?” Tori fired back. 

“My my, you’re a cocky one.” Jade was impressed at the sudden surge of competitive fire from Tori. The two of them had tried to outdo one another countless times in the past, but Tori had always stopped short of being too brazen with her. 

“Confident one,” corrected Tori as she took up her position and placed the puck in the center of the table. “There’s a difference.”

“Is there?” Jade grabbed her pusher. There was no way she was letting Tori beat her. 

“You’ll find out when you lose.”

The fan underneath the table blew air through the holes, signaling the start of the game. Before Jade could even react, Tori had already won the face-off. Jade barely managed to stop Tori from scoring immediately. She blocked the puck from going into her goal before flicking it quickly into the side of the raised edges of the table, causing it to bounce off and shoot straight for the right corner of the opposing goal. 

Tori was too fast though, and Jade watched in shock as the half-Latina easily defended Jade’s shot before scoring a goal of her own in one fluid movement. 

By the time the game was over, Jade’s eyes were starting to hurt from how fast they had been darting back and forth in a useless attempt to keep track of the puck. It was an absolute shut-out. She didn’t even win one round. 

Tori gave her a sly smile as she set down her pusher. “Can’t even beat Andre’s grandma, huh?” 

“How...how the fuck did you-” Jade trailed off, still in surprise as she stared at her friend, who walked around the table to stand next to her.

“I told you I’d destroy you,” smirked Tori.

The wink that followed left Jade blushing a crimson red.

* * *

“Bye-bye everyone!” Cat waved dramatically as everyone said their goodbyes to one another. 

They stood on the sidewalk, forming a rough circle. Andre was heading over to Beck’s house to play some zombies for a few hours. Robbie and Cat were going to stop for a pizookie from BJ’s before Robbie dropped the redhead off at home. Though Jade would never say it aloud, the two of them were cute as a couple. 

After the group had departed, Jade made sure Tori was standing beside her before glancing left and right. Together, they crossed the parking lot. After a bit of walking - Jade couldn’t find a spot close to Dave & Buster’s when she had gotten there - they arrived at Jade’s Camaro. 

Tori wolf-whistled, eyes raking over the pony car with admiration. 

Jade grinned, unlocking the car with her key fob. “Hop in.” 

“I can’t believe this is yours,” whispered Tori, her voice filled with awe as she strapped herself into the car seat. 

Jade chuckled as she buckled up before pulling the car into reverse. “You like cars?”

Tori shrugged. “I’m not a fanatic or anything. But I’ve always wanted a Challenger.” 

“Why a Challenger?” asked Jade, looking both ways before turning out of the parking lot and onto the main road. 

“Dad used to use one back in the day as his vehicle while on duty. I thought they were the coolest thing,” recollected Tori with a soft grin. 

“They are pretty cool. Though, I always pictured you as an SUV soccer-mom type.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Tori’s face contorted in disgust. “Ew. No. SUV soccer-mom is _not_ for me.”

Jade snorted, deciding to mess with Tori a bit more. “What, you don’t wanna show up to your kid’s soccer practice with a cooler full of Gatorade?” 

Tori glared at her, but the beginnings of a smile were on her face. “Well, sure. But not in an SUV. In that Challenger I was talking about.” 

“Might be too much car for you to handle.” 

“Oh is that so, West?” 

“I think so, yeah.” 

“You don’t know what I can handle,” said Tori with confidence. 

_Christ_ , when did she get _attitude_? 

Jade swallowed thickly, swiping at her lips in a swift motion. The seatbelt seemingly pressed tighter against her chest as her breathing grew a little unsteady. 

They fell into a comfortable silence as Jade pulled onto the freeway. Despite the sun setting, the traffic in LA was always present, especially around the Hollywood area. Thankfully, though, there weren’t enough cars on the road to annoy her. 

In the passenger seat, Tori was softly humming. The feeling in Jade’s chest was warm as she took in the feeling of just being near her friend and crush. 

Tori reached for the center screen and fiddled with it. Her eyebrows scrunched in concentration as she tapped at it, taking a few moments to figure out how it worked. Once she did, she turned on the radio and immediately jumped to cover her ears when one of Jade's favorite songs, Avenged Sevenfold’s Hail to the King, shook the seats with its intensity. 

Jade laughed heartily, a wide smile threatening to split her face at Tori’s wild-eyed expression.

“Jesus, Jade! It’s so _loud_!” Tori raised her voice so it was just audible enough to not be drowned out by the screaming of the song’s guitar solo. 

Still laughing, Jade took one hand off the steering wheel and twisted the volume knob, lowering the sound enough that it hopefully wouldn’t destroy Tori’s eardrums. 

“What is this song?” asked Tori once she had taken her fingers out of her ears. 

“Hail to the King, Avenged Sevenfold. You like it?” 

Jade had a feeling she knew Tori’s answer, but she still asked the question anyway. She wasn’t expecting Tori to enjoy the kind of music she listened to. As far as Jade was aware, Tori mostly listened to pop with a few classic rock songs sprinkled in, which they had common ground with. A band like Avenged Sevenfold was surely out of Tori’s area of interest, though.

But she hoped Tori wouldn’t judge her taste in music. 

“It’s…” Tori paused, letting the song play for another half-minute, a look of concentration on her face. “Not what I would normally listen to,” she said. Jade glanced over at her before returning her attention to the road and waiting for Tori to continue when she saw the other girl was still thinking. “ _But_ it is intense and interesting and so _you_ that I kinda like it.” 

Her heart fluttered wildly, but she did her best to ignore the feeling. She was _not_ about to melt in front of Tori. She would die of embarrassment if her one-sided crush was revealed because of a comment about a song. 

Checking the lanes around her before glancing at her mirrors, Jade pushed hard on the gas, skyrocketing them towards the exit to cover up her sudden nerves.

“Jade!” exclaimed Tori, laughing loudly as they were propelled onto the off-ramp. When Jade got into the left-hand turn lane instead of the right, Tori looked at her in confusion. “Where are we going?” 

“Ice cream.”

Tori’s expression morphed into a frown. “Jade, I-” 

Jade cut her off, sending her a glare that said ‘that’s final’ before turning her attention back to the road. “We’re getting ice cream, Tori. You weigh like 90 pounds for Chrissakes. A little bit of dessert won’t kill you.” 

After a grumbled agreement, Tori fell silent for the short distance to the ice cream parlor. 

Jade ordered two scoops of mint chocolate, her recent flavor as of late - mostly because it reminded her of Tori’s perfume that smelled stupidly good - while Tori tried to order one scoop of chocolate chip cookie dough. 

Jade gave her a look of exaggerated disappointment before turning to the teen boy who worked the cash register. “She’ll take two scoops, actually.” 

She smirked when she saw the glare Tori gave her and pulled out her card to pay. 

“I can’t believe you,” Tori groaned when they found seats in the back corner of the parlor. 

“It’s just ice cream, Tori,” Jade said with amusement. 

Tori waved her pink plastic spoon around animatedly. “You’re going to turn me into ice cream!” 

Jade laughed, shrugging as she took the opportunity for a bit of playful flirting. “At least you'd taste good though.” 

Tori choked on her bite of dessert, coughing as a bright red blush changed the color of her face. “Y-you did not just say that,” she spluttered. She shielded her face with her free hand in a useless attempt to hide her discomfort. 

Jade raised a teasing studded eyebrow. “Oh, I did.” 

Tori kept her hand in front of her face until her skin returned to its normal color. She changed the topic almost immediately, and the two of them chatted aimlessly as they ate their desserts. Jade lost track of time but they must have been deep in conversation for quite a long while because the next thing she knew, they were being informed that the store was getting ready to close.

* * *

“I can’t believe you brought fucking _Monsters, Inc._ ” 

“It’s a classic!” exclaimed Tori from her spot atop the kitchen counter. 

Jade rolled her eyes. “It’s childish.” 

Tori grinned, gripping the counter to steady herself before she leaned closer to Jade to whisper. “It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone that you’re a sucker for kids movies.”

“I never said that!” snapped Jade. 

“True, but you were also _awfully_ quick to defend yourself.” 

Jade slapped Tori on the arm, though not enough to hurt, as she felt her muscles pull into a smile. “Watch it, Vega. I let you get away with too much.” 

Tori’s grin turned mischievous as she stared at Jade, some sort of wicked idea forming in her head. 

Jade stared back with uncertainty. “What is it, Vega?”

Tori jumped off the counter. The sudden movement took Jade by surprise which gave the half-Latina an opening to lunge for her sides. _Oh no she didn’t_.

Jade tried to back up from her spot next to the microwave but Tori corralled her with her own movements until Jade’s back was pressed against the large granite island. “Tori,” she warned as the other girl advanced slowly. “Tori,” she repeated. “Tori, I swear to God you better not!” Jade tried to spin left, but Tori’s arm shot out to keep her in place. 

“Better not what?” Tori asked innocently, batting her eyelashes in a way that would have been sexy if it weren’t for the fact that she was trying to _tickle_ Jade. 

“You know damn well what!” 

Tori’s smirk had Jade wondering again when the other girl had gotten so much confidence around her. Although, after Jade had dropped her walls and actually started hanging out with the girl she had once claimed to despise so much, their friendship had been easy and organic. It wasn’t like Jade had done much to keep up her menacing demeanor. 

Amidst her thoughts, Jade completely missed how Tori had finished closing the gap between them, only becoming aware when it was too late and Tori’s fingers were already viciously attacking the spot underneath her ribcage.

Jade howled with laughter. “Tori! Tori, I will kill you and bury you in the desert!” 

Her threats fell on deaf ears. The tickling left her on shaky legs and Tori capitalized on the moment, pressing her bodyweight completely onto Jade. Jade struggled, trying to push Tori off, but she was far too weak. She could hardly see through the tears of laughter that clouded her vision. But she did have the advantage of knowing the layout of her own home, so she didn't really need to see. Coming up with a plan, she allowed her trembling legs to drop her lower, which knocked Tori off-balance enough to halt the merciless attack. 

She managed to fake like she was lunging left before slipping out from in-between Tori’s grasp to the right. She sprinted out of the kitchen as Tori cursed behind her before stumbling into her own run. Jade got about halfway to the staircase before she was tackled sideways into the couch. Letting out an uncharacteristic squeal as she went face-first into the decorative pillows, she squirmed as Tori mounted her back and then continued to tickle her. 

Jade startled even more when she felt Tori’s warm breath whisper against the shell of her ear. _Shit_ , even in this situation it made her horny. “I’ll stop when you admit big, mean Jade West is actually a softie and likes children’s movies.” 

“ _Hmpffff hmpff hmmmmmpffff_!” Jade shouted into the pillow, her words muffled by the soft fabric. 

Tori stopped for a moment, pulling herself off Jade enough so she could at least turn her head away from the pillow. “What was that?” 

“I said ‘You’re going to regret this, Vega’!” 

“From where I’m sitting, I have nothing to worry about,” Tori quipped before dropping her weight back down on Jade’s back, this time starting her assault with feather-like touches that caused Jade to shiver before resuming her aggressive tickles. 

Finally, only after her body had begun to hurt from how much it had been shaking, did Jade relent. “Fine!” she exclaimed. Tori stopped once more, waiting for her to continue. “I, the big bad Jade West, enjoy kids movies. Are you fucking happy?” 

“Very!” Tori said pleasantly, though slightly out of breath. She stood up and offered Jade a hand, placing her other one on her hip in some sort of dorky victory pose. “Now hurry up, the popcorn’s been done for a few minutes.” 

“You’re the one who _attacked_ me!” 

Tori’s grin was infectious. “Yeah, well, you’re the one who took so long to surrender.”

* * *

“Jade?” Tori asked out of the blue. 

After grabbing the popcorn and tossing in a little extra salt, they had grabbed a thick blanket before starting the movie. Although Jade would vehemently deny it in public, she actually really liked _Monsters, Inc_. It wasn’t a masterpiece like _The Scissoring_ , but it was good and damn fun to watch. They had fallen silent after the opening titles and remained that way through a good two-thirds of the movie until Tori had spoken up. 

“Huh?” Jade asked, her attention still very much focused on the screen. 

“Can I ask you a question?”

“You just did.” 

Tori rolled her eyes. “Shut up. I’m being serious.” 

“Sure. Shoot.” 

“Well, I know you and Beck broke up earlier this year,” Tori started. _Oh_ , so it was a _serious_ serious question. Jade turned her body to face the other girl, mentally blocking out the sounds of the movie so she could focus solely on Tori. “For good this time. And I guess, uh, well this is a stupid question. But I-I was kinda just wondering if you were still planning on going to the school’s Winter Ball this year.”

Jade shrugged. “I don’t know, Tori. I don’t really see the point in going if I’m not going with anyone. We only just finished the first week of school, why are you thinking about something that isn’t for another few months?” 

Jade shifted her gaze back to the television, missing the disappointed look on Tori’s face. 

“I guess you’re right.” 

Tori didn’t speak again for the remainder of the movie.

When the credits rolled and Jade looked over to where Tori had previously been sitting upright, her eyes softened at the sight of the brunette curled up into a tight ball, her hair fanned against a pillow as she slept. Briefly, Jade wondered if she should just leave her there for the night, but decided that Tori would probably rather wake up the next morning _not_ pressed into the corner of the couch. 

Jade stood up slowly, stretching her body out before she reached for Tori. Carefully, she wrapped an arm underneath Tori’s knees and one around her back before lifting up in a bridal-style carry. After a few steps, Jade found herself struggling a little bit. _Shit_ , Tori might have been light but it was still way harder than the movies made it out to be. When she reached the stairs, she slowed down, taking measured steps as she walked down to her room. Tori made a noise in her sleep and her head tilted into Jade’s neck. 

Jade grinned to herself; Tori would be so embarrassed if she knew what was happening at that moment. 

“I got you, baby girl.”


	4. Trees (Both Kinds)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm sorry for taking so long to update! This is my last week of school (I should probably be studying for tomorrow's final haha) and it's been a little hectic. But I've managed to get this chapter done AND about 1/3rd of another. This chapter is longer than the other ones so hopefully you enjoy! It also took really long to edit for some reason. Maybe I need more coffee. Formatting is a bit changed for this one (I used justified alignment and I think I like it). 
> 
> I don't know if people actually read these but I hope you all are doing well :)

“We’re here! We’re here! We’re here!” Cat shouted, opening the SUV’s door and vaulting out before they’d even come to a stop.

“Cat!” Robbie cried.

The redhead landed roughly, tripping over herself and stumbling forward before she lost her balance completely and fell to one knee. Thankfully, the fake snow that surrounded her provided a soft cushion so, after a moment of struggle, she was already back on her feet and sprinting away.

Robbie groaned from beside Tori, who had gotten the short end of the stick and was stuck uncomfortably in the middle seat, her head bumping against the car’s roof any time it had hit a bump.

“Sorry about this,” Robbie apologized as he unbuckled his seat belt.

“Robbie,” protested Tori. “Please don’t.”

The awkward nerd with curly hair ignored her request, staggering in the tight confines of the vehicle as he tried to work his way to the side Cat had jumped out of. Jade watched from the very back as he nearly collapsed on top of Tori.

“Sorry,” he repeated. His eyes widened and he let out a loud yelp as he somehow crossed one of his legs over the other before falling face-first into the fake snow.

“You’re a fucking idiot, Rob!” shouted Beck with a laugh as he continued driving towards the parking lot, leaving their friends behind. He turned around to glance at Tori. “Tor?”

Jade’s eyes narrowed at the use of Tori’s nickname.

“Yeah?”

“Can you close the door that those goofballs left open?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

Tori unbuckled her seat belt before moving over. As she reached for the wide-open door, part of her body tilted over. Immediately, Jade slid off her strap, scooching forward and extending her arms, ready to grab onto Tori if she somehow lost her balance. The half-Latina needed no such help, however, and shut the door before claiming Cat’s seat as her own. Beck turned quickly, nodding his thanks and smiling. Tori’s easy grin caused Jade to tense up, anger bursting through her at the small interaction. Beck and Tori had been getting closer and closer throughout the whole semester, and Jade was reaching her limit.

Sure, she had her fair share of time with Tori too. They hung out at each other’s houses often, usually spending the night and driving to school together the next morning. They’d gone to see two new movies in a nice theater with recliners. And Jade and Tori had done their own Friendsgiving just the two of them before having a larger one with their friends. It wasn’t like she’d been left in the dust or anything. And, _yeah_ , she didn’t have a right to be mad at whom Tori chose to spend her time with. But she couldn’t help it!

Once the car was parked, Jade pulled the lever on the seat that Robbie had previously occupied and, after it sprung forward, hopped out.

The slam of the door caused Beck’s head to snap in her direction.

He sent her a questioning smile. “Geez, Jade. I know this car is old as dirt, but I’d still rather not have to fix a broken off door.” He laughed awkwardly, clearly confused by her attitude.

She glared at him, not amused by his comment, and felt a little guilty when the look on her face wiped the smile from his.

“You okay, Jade?” asked Tori. She got out of the car, gently closing her door as she walked around and behind the vehicle. Her eyebrows were creased with worry at Jade’s odd behavior. She reached one hand forward, resting it on Jade’s shoulder.

Briefly, Jade felt a surge of butterflies at how Tori hadn’t hesitated with her touch. She could still remember a time when her friend was absolutely mortified to even get close to her.

Jade stared at her. When Tori’s eyes left her and landed on Beck, whose body Jade could feel was behind hers, she felt those ugly green feelings well up once more and before she consciously knew what she was doing, she ripped her shoulder from underneath Tori. The brunette looked at her in shock, wide eyes behind thin square-framed glasses searching the goth’s own with confusion.

“Don’t touch me!” she snapped.

Both of them froze at her words, Tori from surprise and Jade from disbelief.

Did...did she really say that out loud?

Tori’s bottom lip quivered and Jade looked down at the half-Latina’s clenched fist. The other girl was fighting with herself, trying not to reveal how upset she was. Beck maneuvered around Jade, raising an eyebrow as he locked gazes with her, disappointment and bewilderment evident in his eyes. He wrapped an arm around Tori’s shoulders before turning them so that he was in-between the two girls.

Jade blinked at the sight, suddenly more infuriated than before. She turned to look at the lot behind them. The abundance of Christmas trees looked like they would give her some privacy. She stormed off with an angry huff and didn’t stop until she was sure she was no longer visible to her friends.

_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck._

_What the fuck?_

_What the fuck was that?_

She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so angry. Ever since she became friends with Tori, she’d been more open with others, less stressed out, and genuinely _friendly_. Honestly, her friendship with Tori had turned her into someone she was proud to be. She hadn’t lost one bit of her sassiness, her intelligence, or her love for all things unique and creepy. But she’d lost her rough edges. All of the negativity and darkness that surrounded her had simply _vanished_ when she let Tori Vega past her walls.

But she was pissed off. And she’d honestly forgotten how it felt. Maybe that was why it was hitting her so hard.

It just wasn’t fair!

Last semester she had finally figured out who she was. Well, that was a lie. She had suspected that she wasn’t quite as straight as she thought when she’d walked into Sikowitz’s class on Tori’s first day and thought Tori was the most beautiful girl she’d ever seen. Only when she’d taken her usual seat next to Beck did she realize the implications of the notion. Pouring coffee on Tori’s head was her panicked revenge.

But, right before their summer vacation, she had accepted that part of herself, the one she had fought against and denied for so long. She broke up with one of the only constants in her life after a nearly three-year-long relationship. But it had been worth it because she felt complete, like she was whole for the very first time.

And everything, although uncertain, was okay. Yeah, she had a probably one-sided crush on Tori Vega. Yeah, her bond with Beck wasn’t totally back to what it was before. But she loved how Tori made her feel _and_ she and Beck were working on finding their friendship again.

And, now, everything that had previously been okay suddenly _wasn’t_. Jade was sure that Beck had feelings for Tori, even though he had always said during their relationship that he never thought of Tori as anyone more than a friend. Maybe he had meant it at the time, but he definitely didn’t think of her that way anymore.

All the evidence was in how protective Beck had grown over the semester. When Jade said that Beck and Tori had grown closer, it wasn’t just in terms of their relationship. No, if Tori wasn’t with Jade, she was attached to Beck’s side. Beck was a fundamentally nice and caring person, Jade knew that first-hand, but he was also rather private. When they were dating, unless Beck was with her, he liked his space. But he seemed more than content to always be right up next to Tori.

Did Tori feel the same way though?

Her traitorous brain told her that _yes_ , Tori did like Beck. But Tori was also so outgoing and friendly that it border-lined on over-the-top. So, Jade wasn’t one-hundred percent sure.

_Gah_. It was all so fucking stupid and confusing and she hated it.

“Jade!” shouted a squeaky voice that was so unique it could only belong to one person.

She turned to her left, where the source of the voice was coming from, and it felt like her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets when they landed on the scene in front of her. “What the _actual_ _fuck_?!”

Cat was lying on her back, her bright red hair looking like a pool of blood in contrast to the whiteness of the snow. Her face was flushed, though she was dressed in a sweater and jeans, plus they lived in _Los Angeles_ , so it wasn’t from the cold. Jade’s eyes widened as they reached Cat’s lower garments and saw the other girl’s zipper open, a hint of red silk peeking out. Robbie leaned against a tree, knees to his chest, just as startled as Jade. His eyes were blown with a horny expression. Jade swept her gaze lower, immediately looking away when she saw his bulge.

“ _Oh ho._ What do we have here?” Her previously surprised expression quickly morphed into one of cunning, thankful for the distraction.

“Jade, stop looking!” whined Cat as she rushed to button her jeans.

“Please don’t kill me,” whimpered Robbie.

Jade smirked. “And why would I do that?”

“Because...b-because…”

“Say it, Shapiro.”

“I don’t like saying inappropriate things!”

Jade walked closer, watching in satisfaction as Robbie pressed himself harder into the tree. “If you don’t like saying inappropriate things, then you shouldn’t be doing them with Ms. Kitty-Kat, now, should you?”

“I-I…”

“ _Should you?_ ” Jade hissed, crouching down and grabbing his face so he was forced to look in her eyes.

“No!” he exclaimed.

“Jade, stop scaring him!” protested Cat.

Jade ignored the hand trying to pull her backwards and narrowed her eyes at Robbie. “So, are you going to tell me what you and Cat were up to?”

He turned away from her like what he was about to say physically pained him. “We were...We were getting naughty.”

Jade smiled, patting him on the cheek. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”

“I guess not,” he grumbled, red from embarrassment.

“Good. Now go find our friends while I have a little chat with Cat. M’kay?”

“Yep! I’ll see you two later.” Robbie shot to his feet and gave Cat a quick peck on the cheek before sprinting away, trying to put as much distance between himself and Jade as possible.

“I thought you were done scaring people,” Cat said with a pout.

Jade shrugged. “I made an exception.”

“Why?”

“Because, as one of the _many_ guardians you have, I needed to protect you.”

“But it’s just Robbie!” exclaimed Cat, brows furrowed in confusion.

“Yeah, well last time it was _just_ Jason,” Jade shot back. “And we all know how that turned out.”

Cat folded her arms as her face fell. She grumbled something unintelligible under her breath and started walking away. She didn’t get far though because Jade’s hand latched onto the redhead’s petite wrist.

Jade sighed loudly. “Look Cat, I’m sorry if I made you upset. But you know all of us - me, Andre, Tori, and Beck - are just looking out for you. So, tell me, does Robbie make you happy?”

A slow smile made its way onto Cat’s face as she turned to walk straight into Jade’s chest. With Jade’s hand still around Cat’s wrist, the hug was awkward, but it didn’t seem to bother the redhead.

“Yeah,” Cat mumbled against Jade’s chest. “He makes me happy. And I think I make him happy too.” She looked up at Jade. “So please don’t bully him anymore.”

“I’ll try my best,” Jade promised. “But I might have to give him a few... _gentle_ reminders of what will happen if he messes with you.”

“ _Jade!_ ”

Jade laughed loudly. The bad mood that had been plaguing her since the group’s car ride that morning had vanished, replaced by the warmth brought on by her friend and a deep feeling of guilt for pushing Tori away earlier. “I’m kidding,” she said before pausing for a moment. “Mostly,” she added.

“I can’t believe you,” groaned Cat.

Jade remained silent, letting Cat enjoy the rare embrace for a little bit longer. Finally, Jade tapped on the shorter girl’s shoulder. “Cat?”

“Yeah?”

“This hug has gone on for way too long.”

“Sorry!” exclaimed Cat, jumping away with a small laugh. Once she was a safe distance from Jade, Cat spoke up again. “I forgot the only person who gets extended hug privileges is _Tori_.” The redhead winked, watching with a mixture of amusement and horror as Jade’s eyes narrowed dangerously.

Jade advanced slowly. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Cat took off running with a giggle. “That’s my catchphrase!” She shouted over her shoulder.

“Why you little --”

Jade chased after her. They zigzagged their way around the countless trees and even a few onlookers as they made their way through the lot. Eventually, Cat skidded to a stop in front of the entrance of a large red and white candy cane-themed tent. Jade slowed down as well when she saw their friends chatting animatedly inside of it.

She came to a full stop when Tori turned to look at her. The grin on the half-Latina’s face disappeared and was quickly replaced by a frown. Jade’s chest tightened at Tori’s negative reaction.

“Hey guys!” exclaimed Andre. He tossed a handful of popcorn into his mouth from one of those baggies with red and white stripes and the word “popcorn” in big capital letters. He then offered Jade and Cat their own. “We bought some while we were waiting for y’all to show up. Ready to go find the perfect tree now?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” Cat cheered, already turning to leave the way they just came.

They arranged themselves in a janky formation behind Cat, who eagerly led the pack. Purposefully, Jade stepped around Andre to fall into step next to Tori, who glanced over at her.

When the other girl saw Jade looking right back, she tried to quickly look away but Jade was already talking before she had the chance to. “Look, Tori-”

“Later, okay?”

She raised a studded eyebrow at the interruption. Tori challenged her with her own elevated brow but there was also a promise in her eyes that told Jade they would have a serious talk when they were away from everyone else.

Jade nodded with a sigh. “Okay.”

Tori gave her a slight smile. “Good. Let’s have some fun.”

The group worked their way through the seemingly endless rows of trees, talking aimlessly amongst themselves and looking at the trees as they passed. Beck and Andre mostly led the conversation, but everyone else chimed in at one point or another except for Tori, who remained silent. After a while, Jade turned her attention to Robbie, who she had noticed kept falling behind everyone else. He bent down to scoop up some of the fake snow, adding it to the collection in his other hand and molding it into a rather large ball.

Jade raised an amused eyebrow at him. He put a finger to his lips, which formed a smirk that looked like it absolutely did _not_ belong on his face. She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything. Whatever happened, it was going to be interesting.

Finally, when Robbie was satisfied with the creation in his hands, he wound up his arm, preparing for his throw.

“So, anyway, I told him - _What the!_ ” Beck yelled in surprise when the snowball collided with his luscious hair. He whirled around, eyeing the three people behind him.

“Tori, was that you?!”

The other girl, who hadn’t been paying much attention until Robbie threw the snow, was too busy laughing her head off, the sound a delicious treat to Jade’s ears. “No, no!” she cried between laughs. “It wasn’t me! I promise!”

Beck turned to Jade, narrowing his eyes like he was sure it must have been her if it wasn’t Tori. “Jade?” He crossed his arms, a playful smile on his face that let Jade know he wasn’t too mad about earlier. “Do you have something to say?”

Jade snorted, a smirk dancing across her face as she jerked her thumb in Robbie’s direction. “He’s your guy.”

Robbie, who had previously been trying and failing to keep a straight face, gaped at her. “Traitor!” He hissed.

Jade shrugged her shoulders.

Beck made a _tsk_ sound, shaking his head in mock disappointment. “I can’t believe you _of all people_ would do that to my hair.” He crouched down and in one smooth motion scooped up some of the snow, hurling it at Robbie.

The nerdy boy cried out in surprise as the artificial material covered his glasses, blinding him momentarily before he wiped furiously to clear his vision. “Oh, that does it!”

A full-blown snowball fight ensued between Beck and Robbie, with Andre and Cat joining in on the fun almost immediately. Beck, easily the most athletic out of all of them, dodged and weaved as he pelted their friends. Andre was having the second most success in the battle. Robbie, after only a minute, was covered from head-to-toe as he couldn’t evade a single shot. Cat seemed to have missed the point of the whole snowball fight thing because she was _willingly_ letting herself get hit in the face.

A magnificent and joyful laugh came from behind Jade and she turned to see Tori’s ever-growing smile. When their eyes met, Jade’s heart skipped a beat. She’d never seen anything or anyone more beautiful than Tori at that moment. Everything about her just radiated angelic happiness and Jade found herself being willingly sucked in. A twinkle entered Tori’s eyes as they stared at each other. Jade was sure her face mirrored Tori’s expression.

“Wanna join them?” giggled Tori.

_Yes._ The answer was absolutely a _yes_ , if only because it was evident that Tori really wanted to participate. “Fuck it. Let’s do it.”

The four-person battle became a six-person war as they made their way through row after row of trees. Jade and Beck were clearly evenly-matched as neither ever took a direct shot to their upper body. But Jade wagered Tori probably would have done just as good as them if she hadn’t been crying from laughter the whole time.

“Ah!” Cat squealed as she was hit in the face by three snowballs at the same time. She tripped over herself, twirling as she stumbled before her ass eventually hit the ground and she lay on her back, looking upwards. “Hey!” she exclaimed with a giggle. “Look.” The group didn’t hear her at first. “Guys, everyone, look!”

Jade stopped, brows scrunching in confusion at why Cat was distracted, so she turned her attention to where the redhead was looking. “Oh, wow.”

At Jade’s astonished words, everyone else stopped their play fighting and snapped their heads towards her.

Wordlessly, she pointed to the tree that had captured both her and Cat’s attention. It was an Alpine Balsam Fir shorter than the average Christmas tree one would find in somebody’s living room. In fact, the more Jade looked at it, the more puny it became. Unlike most Christmas trees that people bought, it was sparse with only a few rows of branches. Most of the rows weren’t even filled in all the way.

“It’s a Charlie Brown Christmas!” Cat giddily declared, clapping her hands like a child.

Tori laughed. “It is! _Wow!_ ”

Jade shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t watch stupid cartoons.”

Tori rolled her eyes and shook her head in amusement. “Everybody’s watched Charlie Brown.”

“I haven’t.”

“Yes you have.”

“No I haven’t.”

“Stop lying.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Oh my god, you _definitely_ are.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Oh, _I’m_ ridiculous?”

“That’s what I just said.”

“So,” coughed Beck, dragging the word out as he tried to suppress his laughter at the two girls who were bickering. “I think this is the one then. What do you guys think?” He asked the group.

Cat’s “yes” was shouted instantaneously.

“This is definitely a winner,” affirmed Andre. Robbie nodded his agreement.

“It’s _so cute_!” Tori said enthusiastically. “This has to be the one we take back, right Jade?” asked Tori, arching a brow.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” Jade said, folding her arms over her chest and placing her pinky finger over her mouth like she was deep in thought.

“ _Jade_ ,” Tori whined.

“Fine,” she said with an overly-exaggerated sigh. A small smile danced across her lips. “This’ll be our Christmas tree.”

“ _Yay_!” Tori clapped her hands together and jumped up and down.

Jade rolled her eyes, but internally the other girl’s antics made the butterflies in her stomach flap their wings.

* * *

“Don’t drop Snoopy!” Tori called outside as she leaned her head out to look at the patio.

Jade glanced over at Tori, who was currently holding the door wide open for the boys, from her spot on the piano bench. “We are _not_ naming the Christmas tree anything, let alone Snoopy,” she groaned.

Tori stuck her tongue out. “Cat and I already did.”

“Well, I veto it!”

“You can’t veto it!” Tori said incredulously.

“I just did,” Jade huffed.

“That’s not how it works!”

“We’re not naming the Christmas tree after Charlie Brown’s fucking black-and-white beagle who thinks he’s a damn World War I flying ace!” Jade proclaimed, standing up from her seat.

Tori shook her head and pointed at Jade like she’d caught her red-handed. “I thought you’d never seen Charlie Brown.”

Jade grumbled a curse and glared at Tori, who had a shit-eating grin on her face. “ _Ugh_. So, I’ve seen that one scene where Lucy pulls the football from underneath Charlie Brown a few times because it’s funny. So what?”

“You’re such a liar.” 

Jade opened her mouth to argue back when Robbie let out a pained cry from the other side of the door.

“Robbie!” Cat squealed.

Tori poked her head out the door. “What happened?”

“I’m okay!” Jade heard Robbie’s wounded voice assure them from the patio. “I just hit my head on the wood shelf with all the potted plants.”

“Idiot!” Jade smirked.

Tori shot her a glare, but it lacked reproach. “Jade!”

Jade shrugged, giving Tori a look that oozed sass.

The boys shuffled inside, carrying the tree with them. The branches had been tied up by a few workers from the Christmas tree lot for easier transport. Beck and Andre were easily holding up their portion of the tree, but Robbie looked like he was on shaky legs. The smirk on Jade’s face was wiped off by the pouting look she received from Cat, who followed the boys inside and shut the door.

“We’ll finish getting this bad boy set up by the TV.” Beck motioned for them to come to a stop in the living room. “Robbie, can you grab the tree stand from the car? Andre and I will be fine for a minute.” The curly-haired boy nodded and relief washed over his face as he let go of the tree. The poor guy probably wouldn’t be able to move his arms the next day. “Jade, Tori, would you mind getting us some lemonade?”

Tori nodded and quickly made her way to the kitchen, but Jade stood with her arms crossed. “Do I look like a maid to you?”

Beck groaned. “Come on, Jade. You didn’t have to carry this thing to the car, latch it on the roof, and then carry it from the street.” He gave her puppy-dog eyes and _damn_ he was good at them, but not as good as Tori. She didn’t budge. “ _Please_.”

“Fine. But not because you asked.”

Beck snorted, a boyish grin on his face.

Robbie returned from the car and placed the stand down a little ways away from the television and any other furniture. Jade stopped paying attention when the boys hauled the tree towards it. She got multiple cups out of the cabinet while Tori grabbed a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge. Jade filled the cups with ice before she reached for the pitcher and poured some for her and Tori first.

“What?” Jade asked at Tori’s look. “If we’re the ones making this for everybody, we should get first dibs.”

Tori laughed, clinking her glass against Jade’s own. They sipped on their drinks silently before Jade went back to filling up the rest of them. Tori grabbed some cheese and salami from the refrigerator and busied herself with making a little assortment for everyone to share.

“Hi, everyone!” exclaimed a voice from the top of the stairs. Jade looked up just as Mrs. Vega made her way down the steps.

A chorus of “hi’s” from the group rang out.

Mrs. Vega’s eyes brightened when she saw Beck standing next to the tree, which they were finishing setting up. “Beck! Honey, how are you?”

Jade frowned and she felt Tori stiffen up next to her.

Beck grinned and gave Tori’s mom a hug. “I’m good! A bit tired, but good.”

“I’ll bet. You kids are such angels for going to the lot today. David and I were going to go, but he got called into work and I just haven’t felt well all day.” Mrs. Vega turned her gaze to the kitchen and, if it was possible, her eyes softened even more when she saw Jade standing next to her daughter. “Jade! It’s so good to see you!”

Jade’s eyebrows furrowed. _Why?_ Although Jade had spent a lot of time at the Vega household, she’d never talked to Tori’s mom much. Actually, other than Trina, Jade was pretty sure she’d never said more than two dozen words to another member of Tori’s family. “H-Hi, Mrs. Vega,” Jade stuttered out.

“Please, call me Holly,” she smiled warmly as she made her way into the kitchen. She pointed at one of the cups of lemonade. “Mind if I steal one?”

“Go ahead,” Tori rolled her eyes and reached into the cupboard to grab a replacement.

“Thanks, dear.” Mrs. Vega gave Tori a kiss on the cheek, which caused Tori to flush in embarrassment.

Tori’s mom reached over to grab a slice of salami and a piece of cheese from the plate, ruining the meticulous arrangement of food as she did so.

Tori pouted and Jade internally cursed at the power the gesture had over her insides.

* * *

A few hours later, as day turned to night, their friend group began to shuffle out the front door of the Vega residence. First, Robbie and Cat left, probably to resume their _activities_ from earlier in the day. But, this time, Jade didn’t say anything. Cat could handle herself. And as much as her actions proved otherwise, Jade liked and trusted Robbie. Even if he still wouldn’t completely get rid of that damn puppet. Beck was the next to leave. Andre stayed longer than the rest. The three of them sat around the piano for an hour while Andre played and Jade and Tori provided the vocals.

Eventually, Jade found herself in the backyard, sitting next to Tori in a reclinable pool chair. The other girl was staring intently at her hands like they were the most interesting thing in the world, clearly too nervous to be the one to initiate a conversation. So, Jade took a deep breath. “Tori, I-”

“I know why you got mad earlier.” Tori mumbled, so quietly that Jade almost didn’t hear her.

“You do?” Jade blinked in surprise as panic squeezed her chest.

There was no way Tori knew. _Right?_ Maybe she thought she knew what had caused Jade’s outburst but was actually completely wrong. That had to be it.

Tori heaved a sigh, like she had been dreading this conversation all day. And judging by the way she was acting, Jade was pretty sure she had been. “Yeah,” she started, her leg drumming to a beat that only she could hear. “Jade, I’m really sorry. What’s going on between Beck and I...Well, we’re just friends. I’m not trying to make a move on him, I swear! I just...He texted me when he was bored one day at the beginning of June and I agreed to hang out with him. It turned out we had some stuff in common and, well, Cat was busy with Robbie. And Andre was really into a few songs he was writing. So, we kinda started spending more time together and we ended up becoming good friends. More like brother and sister, really. But that’s it!” Tori exclaimed, anxiety rattling her voice as she finally looked at Jade, her eyes filled with worry. The expression on Jade’s face must have caused Tori more concern because she bit into a good chunk of one of her fingernails before she continued rambling. “I wasn’t - I’m not trying to take him or something! So, uh, if you want to get back together with him, you can. Not that you need my permission or anything!” She rushed out. “I just wanted you to know there’s no competition.”

Jade sat there with a stunned look on her face as she tried to digest the other girl’s words. Tori thought that she was mad because she...wanted Beck back? That was the furthest thing from the truth. She wanted Tori, not Beck! And she had freaked because she was _sure_ that Beck wanted Tori and vice versa. “Uh,” She wracked her brain for a competent response and came up short. “No competition?”

_Nice. Real nice and eloquent, Jade_.

Tori nodded vigorously. “Yep!” Her laugh was shaky from her nerves. “Beck and I? Just friends.” She made some sort of motion with her hands that made no sense before falling silent.

Jade’s continued silence seemed to bother Tori more because the girl turned her attention to the cushion of the pool chair and reached out to pick at a loose thread.

Jade sat there, running her eyes over Tori’s distraught frame as the half-Latina tried to do anything _except_ look at her. What was she supposed to say at that moment? The grand idea of telling Tori how she felt flashed through her mind. But she knew she wasn’t ready to tell Tori her feelings. She wasn’t ready for the high possibility of rejection and what that could do to their friendship, a friendship that she would do anything to avoid ruining.

At the same time, relief flooded through her. Tori and Beck were just friends. At least, that’s what they were in Tori’s eyes. That didn’t mean Beck necessarily saw them that way. But, the important thing was that Jade didn’t have to worry about losing Tori to her ex-boyfriend. Not that Tori belonged to her in the first place.

“Okay.” The singular word was out of her mouth before she had even gained control of her thoughts.

Tori’s head snapped to her, looking her in the eyes with a mixture of relief, hope, and confusion. “Okay?” she repeated tentatively, like she wasn’t sure what that word entailed. Which was fair, because Jade wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by it either. Tori hesitated for a moment before questioning, “So...does that mean you’re not mad at me?”

Jade snorted loudly and the action was so _her_ that she saw Tori’s body relax immediately at the sound. “Of course I’m not mad at you, Tori. It was stupid, irrational, in the moment jealousy and I’m sorry I snapped at you this morning.”

“You’re forgiven.” Jade smiled but it was short-lived when she heard the next word. “If -”

“If what?”

“If you give Tori a squeeze.”

“Oh my God, Vega. I actually thought you weren’t going to forgive me!”

“I don’t think I could ever not, Jade.” Those words did something dangerous to Jade’s stomach. They were naive yet hopeful and honest. They were so like _Tori_ that Jade couldn’t bring herself to point out their stupidity. So she didn’t.

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Tori without thinking twice. Tori eagerly returned the hug, squeezing her tighter as she tilted her head into the crook of Jade’s neck.

“Jade?” mumbled Tori.

“Yeah?”

“Why do you smell like weed?”

Jade laughed. “I slipped two joints in my bra when we walked outside.”

“Jade!” Tori pulled away suddenly.

“What? One of them is for you.”

“Oh my God.”

“Oh, come on, Vega. Don’t act like it's a sin. We’ve smoked with the whole group before!”

“But this is my parents’ backyard!” Tori said, glancing around nervously.

Jade cocked a taunting eyebrow. “You scared, Vega?”

Tori looked around once more. She checked through the sliding door that led into the living room and noticed that the lights were off. Then, she checked both the window of her parents’ bedroom and of Trina’s room. Both were pitch black. Finally, she settled and rolled her eyes. “Shut up and hand me one, West.”

Jade smirked and did as Tori asked. The other girl placed the joint in her mouth and motioned for Jade to pass her the lighter. Instead, Jade flicked it and watched for a second as the flame danced to life before lighting the joint. She pulled out the second one, put it between her own lips, and lit it. She inhaled, letting the smoke settle in her lungs for a few moments, before she blew it out in a slow stream. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tori try to hide a small cough as the smoke left her lungs.

Tori’s face flushed at Jade’s quiet laugh. “Sorry I’m not an expert,” she grumbled.

Jade shrugged, her eyes unable to leave Tori. “Not all of us can be perfect,” she teased, the corners of her lips turning upward.

Tori looked at her aghast. “Take that back!”

“Take what back?”

“ _That!_ ”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re such an eloquent person?” Jade blew out before taking two back-to-back hits.

Tori scooted their pool chairs closer together. She moved closer to the edge of hers, pressing her side into Jade’s, who did her best to not audibly gasp at the contact. Their arms were touching and their hips were pressed together. Tori’s knee kept bumping into hers every time she adjusted her leg. And suddenly Jade’s breathing became hard to control and she was pretty sure that if Tori did anything else, she would explode on the spot.

They were so close to each other that, when Tori whispered, the sound floated softly into Jade’s ear. “Did anyone ever tell _you_ that you’re a gank?”

“Hmmm,” Jade muttered. She pulled Tori closer to her, so that Tori’s forehead rested on her chest, and tilted her head to rest her chin on top of Tori’s head. Her heart pounded at her own action and she wondered if Tori realized the position they were in was probably not suitable for friends. If Tori did notice, she didn’t seem to mind. “I think someone’s called me that once or twice.”

“She must have been an idiot,” Tori said softly. The half-Latina detached herself from Jade to take a hit and Jade watched in fascination as the smoke streamed out of Tori’s mouth. The sight was _hot_. She wondered if it was because she was starting to feel a little high herself or if she had some sort of weird stoner girl fetish, which, really, she didn’t want to think about. Tori’s next words brought her back to the conversation at hand and she mentally smacked herself for the direction her thoughts were taking her. “And she was being stupid and unfair any time she said it seriously.”

“No she wasn’t,” Jade said, her voice nothing but a whisper as guilt hit her yet again. _Damn it_ , it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since she’d last felt bad about something. When had she gotten so soft? “She had every right to be mad at me. I was just flat out mean to her for so long and I didn’t even have a good reason.”

“Why’d you stop?” asked Tori, curiosity pouring out of both her words and her chocolate eyes.

Jade took a hit. She held it in for longer than necessary and when she finally breathed out, barely any smoke was visible. She hadn’t ghosted in a while and she couldn’t stop her loud cough, though it didn’t take her long to get herself under control. Trying to come up with an answer that would satisfy Tori enough for her to drop the subject was useless in her tired and high state, so she went with the truth. “I was tired of pretending.”

Gently, Tori nudged Jade’s hand open, spreading her fingers so she could intertwine them with hers. Jade looked down in awe at the combination of tan and pale skin. “And what were you pretending about?”

“I was pretending that I hated her.” Jade said, shutting her eyes tightly as her brain took her on a trip down memory lane of all the times she had gone out of her way to make Tori’s life a living hell. God, she had been so _stupid_. “That I was angry because she showed up one day with all the natural talent in the world whereas I worked my ass off to be a good singer, a good actor, and a good writer. That she was my enemy because I was sure she wanted to take Beck from me like she was taking the leads in the school plays.” She let out a long sigh, opening her eyes and locking them with Tori’s. She didn’t want to look at Tori when she said her next words because they were personal, too personal for her to _not_ feel vulnerable as she said them even now that she and Tori had been friends for a long time. She knew she had to, though. “But I guess most of all I was tired of pretending that she isn’t one of the best things to happen to me.”

By the end of her speech, Tori’s eyes were brimming over with tears. _Kiss her_ was the first thing that popped into Jade’s head. But she didn’t. Instead, she pulled Tori close to her and held her in silence while she sniffled.

Jade wasn’t sure what she expected to feel after her partial confession, but the huge flood of relief was a welcome comfort. She hadn’t expressed all of her feelings in that monologue; that final step was still daunting and she wasn’t ready for it yet.

But that was okay.

It would come.

As long as she wasn’t a coward.

* * *

Hours later, it had grown far too cold for them to stay outside, so they had moved to Tori’s bedroom. They were both sufficiently high to say the least but Tori was in full on never-getting-up-from-this-bed mode, so Jade was tasked with grabbing snacks.

Jade looked through the refrigerator but quickly decided there was nothing in there that could satisfy her munchies. She needed junk food so she moved over to the cabinets. Her eyes quickly fell on a box of store-bought chocolate chip cookies on the middle shelf. With a smile, she picked those as the first snack and placed the container on the counter next to her. Then, she checked the lower shelves, which were filled with an array of different chip packets. She snorted when she saw that the different lines of bags had labels, separating which chips belonged to Trina, Mrs. Vega, Mr. Vega, and Tori. Trina’s selection took up the most space. _Of course it did_ , she thought to herself. Only one kind of chip was in Tori’s section of the very bottom shelf and her grin widened when she saw what it was.

Salt and Vinegar potato chips, Jade’s favorite.

“A fellow woman of taste,” Jade muttered out loud as she reached for two bags.

“They’re Tori’s favorite.” The voice behind her caused Jade to jump and the snacks dropped from her hands. “Sorry!” Mrs. Vega laughed, placing a friendly hand on Jade’s shoulder. “Didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to grab a glass of wine before bed.” She gave Jade an amused look when the teenager remained silent and she bent down to hand the chips back to her. “Tori doesn’t usually like to eat snacks,” she said as she made her way to the wine cabinet. “But she can’t resist those chips. I’ve never understood why myself. It just feels like I’m burning off my taste buds every time I try them.”

Jade snorted. “That’s what Beck used to say.”

Mrs. Vega turned around with a smile on her face. However, her eyes quickly narrowed when she studied Jade’s face. “Jade, are you high?”

“Wh-What?” She sputtered out.

Mrs. Vega pointed a finger at her own eyes and made a circular motion to emphasize the organ. “Your eyes are bright red.” She stepped closer, sniffing the air as she did so. “And you smell like weed.”

“I-” Saying no when, _yes_ , she was _obviously_ high wouldn’t earn her any brownie points with Tori’s mom. But she also didn’t want to get yelled at by admitting to it. She was at a loss for what to do. “Uh, I - yes?” It came out like a question.

Mrs. Vega’s face was blank. “Is my daughter high as well? The truth please,” she added when she noticed Jade hesitate.

“Yes,” she squeaked out, overcome by a fear she had never felt when Beck’s parents had caught them doing something they shouldn’t have. She felt like she had let the older woman down, something she hadn’t cared about with her ex’s family.

Mrs. Vega remained silent.

Great, she’d made Tori’s mom furious. And she hadn’t even asked her daughter out yet! Everything was going to be so much more complicated!

Slowly, a small grin spread across Mrs. Vega’s face. The older woman let out a loud laugh. “Oh my gosh, I’m sorry sweetie. Your expression is priceless!”

“You’re not mad?” Jade asked, shock dripping from each word.

“Kids will be kids.” Mrs. Vega put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. _Really,_ what was it with the Vegas and Jade letting them touch her? “I smoked plenty of pot when I was your age. So, you girls enjoy your night, okay? That being said, I don’t want my daughter becoming a stoner, so this better only be an every once in a while thing.”

Jade let out a huge sigh, the exhale of her breath calming her down from her catatonic state. “Yes, Mrs. Vega! Of course! I...Thank you for not being mad.”

“Jade, what did I tell you earlier?”

“Uh...Oh! Call you Holly, not Mrs. Vega.”

“That’s right.” Holly gave her one last smile before walking toward the staircase. When she saw Jade still standing in the kitchen, she smiled and sighed. “Dear, I believe my daughter is waiting for you.”

That shook Jade out of her daze. “Right!”

She practically dashed up the stairs, snacks tucked firmly under her arms. When she passed Holly, she swore she heard the older woman _snicker_ , but she was already closing the door to Tori’s room at the end of the hall before she could think much about it.

Jade glanced at the bed as Tori groaned and raised herself up into a reluctant sitting position.

“Did you bring snacks?” asked Tori, an adorably hopeful pout on her face. 

“Vega, I seriously thought your mom was going to kill me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know what kind of music you'd imagine I listened to while I wrote this...maybe some love songs or something? Nope. Thank you Logic for being my background noise for this one haha. 
> 
> I don't want to put a definitive stamp on it yet, but I think this story has about two or three more chapters left. I have big plans for the next story. Like BIG. So...guess I better get to writing? 
> 
> Thank you all for reading and I'll see you (hopefully) soon for the next chapter.


	5. They're So Pretty It Hurts (I'm Not Talking 'Bout Boys)

“Jadey, are you listening to me?” Cat’s voice whined loudly. Jade winced, her friend’s high-pitch the only reason she came out of her stupor in the first place.

“Yes.”

_No. Absolutely not._

“What did I just say then?” The redhead crossed her arms.

She tried to think. Maybe some part of her brain had registered the words she hadn’t been consciously listening to. “Something about Robbie,” was all Jade could come up with.

Coffee might help her focus more, she realized. So, she took a gigantic sip from her travel mug. A grimace overtook her face when the scalding hot liquid sloshed down her throat. She cursed herself for being so spacey all morning.

“Jadey --”

“I’m listening now!” Jade insisted.

Cat looked taken aback by her sharp defensiveness for a moment before retelling Jade what she had apparently said previously. “Robbie is going to ask me to the Winter Ball today!”

Jade scowled. “Isn’t it a bit early for that?”

“What do you mean?”

Jade took a small sip of her coffee. This time, she made sure she was ready for how hot it was. “I mean most people haven’t asked anyone out, right?”

Cat looked at her with concern. “Jadey.” Jade felt her jaw tick. She really wasn’t a fan of that nickname. But it was Cat’s form of endearment, so she supposed she had to keep letting it slide. “The Winter Ball is the week after Christmas. Today is the _Monday_ of the last week until Winter Break _starts_."

“ _Really?_ ” Her heart thudded wildly.

It couldn’t have been. She’d been paying attention to the days, to how much time she had left to make up her mind, _hadn’t she?_

“ _Yes._ ”

“Oh fuck,” she whispered. She tried to keep her voice to herself but Cat’s proximity allowed her to easily hear.

“What’s wrong?” asked Cat, eyes wide. “Jadey?”

She forced a smile onto her face. “Nothing’s wrong, Cat. I’ll see you in Sikowitz’s later, okay?”

Cat nodded eagerly. “Kk.”

Jade spun on her heels, hurrying to her first class. Vaguely, she registered Robbie and Andre waving to her by the soda machine. She tossed up a distracted hand in return before disappearing into the back hallway, where her science class was. The area was abandoned. Only a handful of students took a science class at one time, so hardly anybody went back here. There were only two teachers for the subject at the whole school, so they couldn’t handle a lot anyway. Plus, she was fifteen minutes early, so most everybody was still in the main hallway.

She took a seat in the back of the classroom, unceremoniously dropping her bag next to the plastic desk. Her elbow dug into the uncomfortable armrest and she placed her head in the palm of her right hand.

So much of the past few weeks had flown by in the blink of an eye. She’d been debating with herself, trying to figure out if she was ready to confess her feelings to her best friend and the girl she _definitely_ had more than a crush on. On one hand, she knew she wasn’t ready. If she confessed and Tori didn’t feel the same way, she ran the risk of their friendship taking a massive hit. One that might be impossible to come back from. On the other hand, the Winter Ball was banging down the door with its impending arrival. If somebody else asked Tori before her, her chances with the half-Latina dwindled substantially.

As her jaw clenched, she dug her sharp nails into the palm of her left hand. In the back of her mind, she registered that the action was painful, but that only caused her to tighten her fist. She imagined some idiot boy asking Tori to the dance and Tori, with her wide doe eyes, saying yes. While she watched helplessly from next to some cliché punch bowl, Tori would be dancing in an elegant pink dress and having the time of her life with someone that wasn’t _her_. Jade’s heart squeezed dangerously at the thought. At the same time, unadulterated anger flowed through her.

“Uhhh, ex-excuse me. Jade?”

Her head snapped to the unfamiliar voice that disrupted her thoughts, eyes hard when they fell on a blonde girl with ridiculously large and round glasses. She recognized the interloper as Angela, the girl who sat right in front of Mr. Waller’s desk.

“What?” Jade hissed.

Angela jumped in fright. “Your, uh, your hand is bleeding.”

“I don’t care.”

Without another word, Angela scurried toward the front of the class. 

Jade glanced down at her fist and realized the other girl was right. A few trickles of blood squeezed their way from in-between her fingers and slithered down to her pale wrist. She didn’t really mind the red liquid but she knew Mr. Waller would. So, with an annoyed sigh, she got up from her seat and made her way to the closest restroom.

She stared in fascination as blood dripped from her wound before making contact with the water, its color fading away as it entangled with the faucet’s liquid. Absentmindedly, she ran the fingers of her other hand over the slightly damaged area of her palm. She was lost, unsure of how to fix her situation. If she asked Tori and the half-Latina reacted badly, that could be the end of their friendship. She could lose Tori. But if she didn’t ask her and someone else did, then she could lose Tori as well.

A cross between a groan and a growl erupted from deep within her. Though the idea was foreign to her, she knew she needed advice. And since she couldn’t get advice from Vega, who was the root of her problem, there was really only one other option.

Once her palm stopped bleeding, she hurried back to the classroom. She’d missed five minutes of the lecture but that didn’t matter, she was going to miss the rest of it anyway. She grabbed her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

“Ms. West, where do you think you’re going?” asked her teacher, his annoyingly dry voice grating on her already thin nerves.

“Out.”

“If you leave now, I have to --”

“Mark me as absent for the day and lower my attendance grade. Yeah, I know.”

She walked out without another word, quickly striding through the empty halls to her next destination. Much like at the beginning of the semester, she threw the wooden door open and headed straight for the center of the room. This time, however, Counselor Lane wasn’t two seconds away from sleep, he was talking to somebody. Surprise colored his face when he saw her standing with her arms crossed.

“Jade!” he exclaimed.

And he must have been absolutely _stupefied_ because he was still looking at her in disbelief, even as Coach Davis, the PE teacher with a pot belly, tried to talk to him.

Lane cleared his throat. “Jade, uh, would you mind waiting outside? Mr. Davis came by to ask me about teaching a dance class next week.”

Jade remained in place. “At the beginning of the semester, you said that if I wanted to talk then all I had to do was knock.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I honestly didn’t think you would remember that. I’d be glad to talk, Jade, but if you don’t have an appointment, I need to finish up with Anthony here.”

Jade huffed in annoyance. “Did Coach Davis have an appointment?”

Lane’s look turned stern. “Jade --”

Coach Davis gave a rumbling laugh and leaned over the wood desk to slap a hand on Lane’s shoulder. “Ah, don’t worry about it. I’ll text you and we can work out the details later.”

With heavy steps, the large man walked out of the room.

She guessed Lane could tell from looking at her that she came for a serious reason because he reached for his top drawer, eyes scanning over a variety of lotions before settling on banana-scented. He pumped a generous helping before rubbing his hands together furiously. “I’m gonna be honest, Jade. I didn’t think you would actually come back.”

“Neither did I.”

“So,” he cleared his throat again, this time in preparation for what was surely going to be an awkward conversation. “Would you like to take a seat?”

She started to shake her head, figuring that staying on her feet would make her feel less trapped, but the idea of relaxing into one of the surprisingly comfortable bamboo swing chairs was tempting. As she moved for the first time in minutes, a wave of nervousness hit her. She shoved it aside and sat down.

“What did you want to talk about?”

At first, she didn’t answer. Her hands clasped together as her eyes darted wildly from the pictures on his desk to the door that she had come from. It was one thing to feel comfortable _internally_ with her sexuality and her more-than-friends attraction to Tori. And, who was she kidding? There was no way what she felt was anything less than love. But it was another thing to say it _out loud_ to somebody.

“Take your time with --”

“I like Tori!” she exclaimed, voice louder than she meant it to be.

A part of herself stopped aching. Her mind seemed to quiet, at least for the moment, as well. It wasn’t like she had voices at war or anything. She didn’t live in constant fear that people _knew_ , though she’d admittedly had her fair share of freak-outs. But it was only because it was something personal to her. And, while she knew that her sexual orientation wouldn’t make a difference to some people ( _thank you Beck for being amazing_ ), she also knew that it would make a difference to others.

After finally admitting it out loud though, she felt pretty damn good. Free, even. _Another step down_ , she told herself.

“Um...for clarification, you mean --”

“I _like like_ Tori,” she confirmed.

Lane nodded, mumbling something to himself as he scribbled away in a small black book. When he looked up at her, his expression was focused. “Well, Jade, you know, some people are attracted to people of the opposite sex, some people are attracted to people of the same-sex. And some are attracted to both and/or anything in-between.”

She stared at him silently, her brain trying to catch up with just what the _fuck_ he was talking about. _Oh._ He...no, no. “That’s not where I was going with this.”

Lane blinked at her as his cheeks flushed. He scratched the back of his neck. “Uh, it’s not?”

“No. I know I’m pretty fucking gay. Like, if I had to pin it down, ninety percent gay,” Jade stated confidently and with a hint of humor, a smile gracing her lips before her attitude slipped when she looked down at her black combat boots. Without her realizing it, her left leg began to bounce on its own. She bit her lip. The door suddenly looked like an appealing option. She knew she needed to talk to someone though, and Lane was her best choice. Plus, if he just screwed his head on right, he could offer actual advice. “I, uh, I kind of - I want to - I want to ask Tori to the Winter Ball.”

Lane smiled, relaxing into his seat as all of the tension seemingly melted from his body. He must have been out of his element before, Jade realized. The poor guy was probably unsure of how to guide a teenage girl through a talk about sexuality and self-discovery. But helping one student ask another to a dance? That was probably right in his wheelhouse.

He pumped a little bit more of the cream on his hand before making a face and opening up his top drawer again. This time, he pulled out an almond scent, mixing in a dime-sized portion before massaging it into his skin. _Really, what the fuck was his obsession with lotion?_ “Alright, let’s get right down to it, then. First off, why haven’t you already? What’s stopping you?”

Jade hesitated, wondering if she should be telling a counselor what she was about to say, but figured it hadn’t been much of a secret anyway. So, what the hell? “I was a bitch to her for a long time. On her first day here, I poured coffee on her, _after_ I made her act like a dog, might I add. So, yeah, not exactly the best first impression. And then I also totally faked the stage fighting incident, by the way. My injury was all makeup. I constantly told her she wasn’t my friend and I always made it a point to be at odds with her. There are a few more things too but if what I already said hasn’t gotten me in trouble, those definitely will.”

Lane blinked at her, his eyebrows slowly crawling comically high on his forehead. “You...faked the stage fighting incident?”

“Yes.”

“The injury, you almost fainting, the whole ‘I thought we were just starting to be friends’?”

“You remember that?”

Lane nodded, a fond smile on his face. “Jade, I’ve been at this school for a while. We’ve had our fair share of...issues between students. But there’s never been bigger drama than the fights between you and Tori.” He laughed. “You two will probably go down in this school’s history books.” Then, his expression grew serious once more. “So, what changed?”

“Sikowitz forced us on that date at Nozu to improve our chemistry for his stupid play. The next day, I started to feel funny things at lunch. I don’t know if they were always there and I had just ignored them, but they were kind of like butterflies or some shit, I guess. And that was it. I didn’t want to fight the fact that I wanted her around anymore, so I didn’t. We started hanging out and the next thing I knew she was my best friend.”

“It sounds like you really like her.”

Jade snorted, a grin accosting her lips as her pale cheeks flushed a faint red. “My past self would kill me for saying this, but I honestly don’t know how I survived for so long without her. She’s beautiful, _obviously_. She’s an insanely talented singer, a great actress too. Although her eyes give her away, all the time. She’s kinda really dorky. _And_ she’s annoyingly, _nauseatingly_ optimistic and sunny. Not Cat level, but close.”

“And you don’t want to lose that,” he surmised.

She sighed. “Not at all.”

“But --” he prodded.

“But if an idiotic boy asks her out and I’m the cliché jealous person watching from the sidelines, I’m probably going to stab my scissors into something warm and fleshy.”

Lane perked a brow, shaking his head in amusement. “Unfortunately, I’m going to have to advise you against that. But,” he paused to give her a meaningful look. “It sounds like you know what you have to do.”

She frowned, spinning the chair side-to-side. “No, I don’t. That’s why I came to you.”

“Jade,” he said gently. “You have two options. One, you tell her. Two, you don’t. The first option is a risk, yes, but it could pay off. The second option leaves you unhappy no matter what because you stay quiet about how you really feel. If, hypothetically, Tori ends up liking whoever asks her to the dance, then you might never know what could have happened if you just spoke up.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“That’s because when you strip away all of the doubts and wild thoughts that love forces into your head, it kind of is.”

“So, just go for it?”

“Just go for it,” he confirmed.

She nodded. “Okay.”

_Just go for it. Easy._

“You all set?”

“I just have to do one more thing. Thank you, Lane.”

* * *

Jade couldn’t stop her leg from bouncing as she waited for a response to her text. It had been five minutes since she’d sent it and she was getting impatient. Her leg was growing tired from its constant back-and-forth swinging and she couldn’t find a comfortable position for her ass. An upside-down wood crate wasn’t the most luxurious of seats.

Another minute went by as she watched the digital number on her PearPhone change. Tugging on a few strands of her hair, a frustrated groan bubbled up. She was another few minutes away from walking to Beck’s fucking class and ripping him from his seat.

With a tap on the screen, she pulled up her messages and scanned her eyes over her last text to her ex.

**Jade: Can you sneak out of class?**

Suddenly, three dots appeared below her message for a few brief moments.

**Beck: I can, but we’re in the middle of learning about our project for over break**

**Jade: It’s important**

**Jade: Please**

This time, it only took a few seconds for him to answer.

**Beck: Where are you?**

**Jade: Janitor’s closet**

**Beck: Give me a minute**

True to his word, the door was pushed open a mere minute later and in stepped Beck, one hand on the strap of his backpack and the other playing with the front of his hair. She rolled her eyes at his obsession.

“You don’t need to mess with it, you know. Girls would swoon over it even if you didn’t comb it for days.”

He flashed her a smile. “Yeah, well, it can never look _too_ good.” He walked farther into the room before coming to a stop right in front of her. He noted her makeshift chair. “That can’t be comfortable,” he pointed out.

“It’s not.”

“So, what’s up? You said it was important. You also said ‘please’, which I kinda forgot was in your vocabulary.”

Folding her arms over her chest, she maintained eye contact with him as she spoke. “I want to ask Tori to the Winter Ball.”

His brain seemed to malfunction because the only thing that came out of his mouth after a beat of silence was a loud, “Pardon?”

“Are you deaf?”

“No, I’m - I’m not deaf!” He spluttered.

“Well, something’s obviously wrong with you.”

“I just - I was right!” A slow, victorious grin took hold of his features.

“You were...right?”

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew you liked Tori!”

Her mouth fell open. “You _knew?_ ”

He was pacing now, unable to remain still. “Well, I didn’t _know_ but I was like ninety-five percent sure.”

“Does anyone else know?”

He shrugged, that goofy smile still plastered on his face. “Does it matter? You’re going to ask her out anyway.”

That stopped the nervous train wreck of her thoughts in its tracks. “True. So, you’re not...mad, right?”

Beck looked at her like she was crazy. “Mad? Why would I be mad?”

“I thought you liked Tori,” she mumbled.

Didn’t he? He’d been _hovering_ over Tori throughout the whole semester. At lunch, in the halls, after school, they were _always_ together. Beck was closer to Tori than he was any of the guys in the group. He’d been spending almost as much time with the half-Latina as he had with Jade when they were dating. And, she’d noticed that he was also super protective of her. On more than one occasion, he’d stepped in when one of the mean girls who had taken up Jade’s former job said something nasty. That had to mean he liked her, right?

“Yeah, as a friend.” He paused, eyeing the small pile of wood crates in the corner opposite of the trash can. “I’m tired of standing.” Grabbing one of the crates, he flipped it upside down before placing it so he could sit in front of her. He let his backpack slide off his arm. “She’s like the sister I never had at this point. We just kinda clicked, in a platonic way. She’s funny and easy-going and I --”

“Needed that after being in a high-maintenance relationship?” she joked, but there was no bite to her words.

He chuckled. “Well, I wasn’t gonna say _that_. But, since you were the one who brought it - Hey!” he protested when she slapped him on the shoulder.

“You’re unbelievable,” she grumbled, folding her arms.

“You said it, not me.”

She sighed, turning serious again as she looked at him with questioning eyes. “Do you know if anyone’s asked her yet?”

He shook his head. “Not a clue. But I wouldn’t worry about it.”

What was that supposed to mean? “Why not?”

“Just a hunch.” He checked his phone for the time. “Look, I gotta get back to class. I don’t know how much I’ve already missed.”

“Okay.”

He stood up, waiting for her to do the same. When she did, he wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a tight, reassuring squeeze. After a few moments, he pulled back with a bright smile.

He grabbed his backpack and took a few steps toward the door. “Good luck, okay?”

Grabbing her own bag, she hummed in the affirmative before letting a few kind words spill out. “Hey, Beck? Thanks, you know, for being a good friend.”

His face remained passive but, when her eyes landed on his, they shone with pride. “You’ve gone soft, Jade.”

With that, he waved goodbye.

* * *

When Jade finally managed to catch Tori at a time when she wasn’t extremely busy, she was talking animatedly to her annoying and less talented older sister by the front doors after school. While Jade’s exterior demeanor remained stoic, she internally grinned. No sane person wanted to spend much time talking to Trina and, as luck would have it, Tori was sane…enough. The fact that she had to put up with her sister on a daily basis was probably doing nothing to help the evident frustration she was feeling based on the way she was pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Trina, you _promised_ you would be able to take me home today!”

“Well, yeah, but I saw Melissa on my way in to get you and she wants to hang out at the park down the street. So, obviously, I told her yes.”

Tori sighed loudly, running a hand through her soft curls as she glared at her sister. “Treen, I know you like her. But how am I supposed to get home? You literally told mom not to worry about it this morning.”

Jade’s ears perked up. Trina liked Melissa? As in, _like liked_? She’d done a five minute film with the short blonde girl once. Melissa had been timid the whole way through, not offering much insight, to the point where Jade pretty much had to take control over the entire project. She didn’t really peg Melissa as Trina’s type but, then again, she hadn’t even known Trina was into girls until two seconds ago. She was going to have to get Tori to spill the beans later.

“Well, it’s not my fault you don’t have your driver’s license,” Trina argued.

“That’s not the point!” Tori huffed.

Trina gave her a patronizing pat on the shoulder. “Isn’t it?”

“I’ll take her,” Jade intervened, walking up to stand next to the younger Vega.

“If it isn’t the Wicked Witch.”

Jade shot Trina the fakest smile she could have possibly conjured up and watched in satisfaction as the older Vega sister shut her mouth.

“You will?” Tori asked, relief coloring her tone.

Jade rolled her eyes. “Of course I will. I’m not going to leave you stranded here.”

“Ugh, so can I leave now?” Trina folded her arms and tapped her foot impatiently.

“Yes,” said Tori at the same time as Jade proclaimed “fuck off”.

With a heated glare, Trina left the two of them alone. Jade watched the girl’s retreating form until the doors closed behind her, even waiting a few more moments until she was sure there was enough distance between them, before turning toward Tori. “You ready to go?” she asked.

When Tori nodded in the affirmative, the two of them walked together to the parking lot. Walking past the stragglers, some who were chatting, others who were dancing or singing to whatever song occupied their minds, Tori spotted Cat. The redhead was typing away at her phone and, as if seemingly aware that the brunette was watching her, looked up in time to wave. Both girls waved back as they came to a stop next to Jade’s Camaro.

Jade unlocked the car, opening the passenger side for Tori to climb in.

“Aww,” said Tori as she stepped inside the vehicle. “What a gentlewoman.”

“Whatever, Vega,” Jade grumbled, closing the door behind Tori before walking across the front of her car. Because she was in such a, well, a _mood_ \- she honestly couldn’t figure out what kind it was - she waved once more to the group’s redheaded child before sliding into the driver’s seat.

Jade pressed the engine start/stop button before slowly peeling the car from its parking spot. She spotted the variety of vehicles waiting in a long, unmoving line for the chance to spill onto the street. A soft sigh left her lips as she took her place in line, putting the Camaro back into park since they wouldn’t be moving for at least a few minutes.

“So,” she began, her eyes flitting over to find Tori watching her with a small smile. “What was that back there?”

Tori cocked a brow. “What was what?”

“Your annoying mess of a sister abandoned you because she _likes_ Melissa?” Jade said, raising a teasing brow as her fingers danced on the steering wheel. “I’m not an expert or anything but the way you said it kinda implied a little more than the typical ‘Yeah, I like you. We’re friends’ version of like.”

“Oh,” Tori’s eyes widened. “That…” She cleared her throat, nervously checking to see if the line had moved up at all. “Well, uh, I don’t know if it’s my place to say.”

“Please, Tori,” Jade rolled her eyes in disbelief. “What am I gonna do, tell everyone that your sister likes to smooch other girls on the lips? Even I’m not that cruel.” She paused, frowning as if thinking about it for a moment longer. “Although...now that I think about it, it would be excellent blackmail to get her to stop hovering around our group.”

“She does not hover!”

Jade’s laugh was filled with mirth. “She kinda does.” She waited a beat as Tori let out an indignant huff. “So, how did Miss Perfect meet her lady crush?”

“They had a P.E. class together. After school one day, Trina burst into my room and asked me why she couldn’t stop thinking about Melissa’s ass.” Tori laughed at the memory and Jade snorted. “And then, a few days later, I guess she gathered up the courage to actually try to be a decent, non-self-absorbed person because she texted me and said that she’d made a new friend. Melissa’s been over a few times but I think they both kind of have an attraction to each other and neither really knows how to handle it. So, they’re a little adorably awkward.”

When Jade heard a honk behind her, her eyes snapped to the previously occupied stretch of concrete in front of her, only to find that the cars had moved up. For a brief moment, she contemplated flipping off the person who had startled her, but she was in too good of a mood to actually do it. Just being with Tori, chatting about anything and everything, tended to do that to her. She put the car in drive and carefully pulled them forward, coming to another stop right before the exit gates. The car in front of her waited patiently for its opportunity to turn.

“First, the word ‘adorable’, in any of its variations, doesn’t belong in the same sentence as Trina. She is the exact opposite of adorable.”

“ _Jade_ ,” Tori whined. “That’s my sister you’re talking about.”

Jade grinned, lightly poking the singer in the ribs. “Sucks for her that you got all of the good family genes then.”

“ _Stop it_.” Tan cheeks flushed a deep red as the half-Latina rushed to hide her head in her hands.

When the car in front of them pulled onto the street, Jade released the brakes, the Camaro rolling forward. She reapplied the pressure of her foot, slowing them to another stop as she waited for an opening in the traffic. She wanted desperately to continue teasing Tori, but paying attention to the road was far more important at that moment. The opening soon presented itself, a wide one at that, and the tires screeched as Jade deemed it safe to speed onto the street. “Stop what?” she asked when she was comfortable enough to multitask. 

“ _That!_ ”

“What did we talk about, Tori?” Jade tsked. “Use your words.”

Tori turned her head to face the passenger window. “You’re making me --”

“I’m making you…” Jade prompted.

“You’re making me blush, okay!”

She knew that already. It was just...something about Tori saying it made her heart thump rapidly. If Tori was so affected by Jade’s compliments, did that mean there was a chance? Multiple times, she’d thought of her feelings for Tori as a one-sided thing. Tori saying “yes” to the Winter Ball was something she was _hoping_ for, badly so, but she’d never considered the possibility that it was more likely than unlikely until that moment. Compliments were nice; something deep within everyone thrived off of them. But they didn’t leave people blushing furiously in a panicked mess unless they were from someone special. So, that had to mean Tori thought _she_ was special, right?

Jade took a second to compose herself, clearing her throat and relaxing her facial muscles before she spoke again, deciding that a topic switch was in order for her to avoid asking Tori out on the spot. “I, uh, thought Trina liked Beck,” Jade commented, thinking back to the times the older Vega had basically straddled her ex-boyfriend.

It took Tori a while to remove her head from her hands but, when she did, her bright blush had been replaced by a tinge of pink. “She did. She probably still does, actually. But Beck’s never given her much attention, even when she would lay across his lap, now has he?”

“No,” Jade snorted, flicking on her right blinker before she made a turn. “No, he has not.”

The rest of the drive passed by in a mixture of idle chatter and comfortable silence. Jade let out a relieved sigh when she finally turned onto Tori’s street. There were no words for how much she despised driving during the day. The sun was all bright and blinding, the streets and freeways were clogged with cars, and they lived in L.A., so the idiots that drove those cars were more than willing to run over a few passersby if it meant they wouldn’t be late to wherever they were going.

Tori’s dad was washing the family SUV when Jade parked next to the driveway. David turned around when he heard the Camaro doors open, shut, and lock.

“Tori, hey!” David waved with a bright smile on his face. He then turned to Jade, raising an eyebrow. “And hello, not Trina.” His smile didn’t falter, so Jade was pretty sure her presence was welcome. “Wasn’t your sister supposed to take you home today?” he asked Tori.

“She was _supposed_ to, yes.”

David frowned, scratching the back of his neck. “So, did she just leave you stranded at school or…?”

“Melissa wanted to go to the park with her.”

“Ah,” David nodded, seemingly not surprised. “Well, Jade, thanks for taking Tori home.” He faced the car and set the hose so that a few soft streams of water doused the driver’s side of the Toyota. “There’s a few coffee pods and a machine on the kitchen counter. Help yourself.”

“Thank you, Mr. Vega,” Jade responded as she and Tori walked up to the front door.

“It’s David!” He called without looking at them.

What was up with Tori’s parents being so nice to her? She’d barely ever spoken to them before.

“How does your dad know I like coffee?” Jade asked when they walked into the kitchen. She made her way over to the coffee machine, flicking it on, and went to find a flavor she’d like.

Tori smiled sheepishly, lifting herself onto the counter right next to the little coffee station. “I told him that you’re kinda addicted and it’s the fuel that keeps you functioning.”

“You talk to your parents about me?” She raised her pierced brow when she spotted the caramel macchiato-flavored coffee pods. She picked one up, lifting it in front of her face to show to Tori. “First, you have my favorite kind of potato chips, and now you just so happen to have my favorite kind of coffee. I’m not sure if I should be flattered or worried, Vega.”

Flattered, very flattered.

“Salt and Vinegar chips are _my_ favorite!” Tori rushed to defend herself. “They just so happen to coincidentally be yours too! As for the caramel macchiato, well,” she played with her hair, “I knew it was your favorite.”

“I never told you that.”

Tori looked down at the counter, watching as her fingers tapped a nervous beat. Jade tried to get a look at her face, but it was mostly hidden behind a curtain of brunette hair. “I knew my dad was going to make a trip to the store a few weeks back, so I might have stolen a few sips from your travel mug over the week.” She looked up with an embarrassed smile. “It was caramel macchiato each time.”

Jade ignored the butterflies fluttering at Tori’s thoughtfulness, but she did allow a small, proud smile at Tori’s sneaky behavior. She had to play the rest of this evening as cool as possible if it was going to end the way she wanted it to and it was already getting hard to do so. “So, am I a regular topic of conversation?”

“What?”

While Tori worked for her composure, Jade walked over to the wall cabinet that housed the mugs and pulled out a purple one. Setting the pod into the machine, she adjusted it to the second highest setting before pressing the brew button.

By that time, Tori seemed to have regained her composure. “I mean, yeah, we talk about you. You’re one of my closest friends.”

“Oh, and what do you talk about?”

A playful smirk suddenly had Jade reeling from a loss of control over the conversation. “Stuff,” the half-Latina said.

“What do you mean ‘stuff’?” Jade asked incredulously.

Tori’s eyes gave Jade a head-to-toe once over before shrugging. Was she imagining things or did the singer’s gaze stay on her chest for a moment longer than necessary? “You know, stuff and things.”

Jade narrowed her eyes, studying the half-Latina. Tori was all of a sudden acting completely innocent as she looked around the kitchen, humming a soft tune. It really felt like Tori was flirting with her but, at the same time, the girl was incredibly dorky. She very well could have been messing around without realizing what she was doing. “Well, what kind of stuff and things?” Jade asked sharply.

Tori hopped off the counter and walked past her, the skin-to-skin contact of their arms sending an electrifying jolt through Jade’s body. “You might want to grab your coffee before it gets cold.”

* * *

“Tori?” Jade asked tentatively.

After Jade had grabbed her coffee, they made their way to Tori’s room, stopped first by Mrs. Vega, who once again seemed overly-eager to see Jade in her household. Jade wasn’t sure what was up with the older woman, but she also wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know.

Aside from Trina interrupting them twice to ask Tori if she’d stolen her prized Fazzini boots, they had been peacefully watching _The Office_ for the last few hours, making random conversation when there were lulls in the episodes. Thankfully, Tori had put space between them while they watched, leaving Jade on one side of the bed and her on the other. It had been enough for Jade to gather her confidence and, with a deep breath, she was probably the readiest she would ever be.

“Yeah?” Tori tilted her body to face Jade, mushing her face into her pink pillow.

“Are you still planning to go to the Winter Ball?” She hated that her voice lacked its usual confidence.

Tori hesitated for a moment, curiosity adorning her features. “I think so. Someone asked me,” she carefully added on.

A rush of disappointment hit Jade like a truck and, as her heart plummeted, she was sure she wasn’t doing a good job of hiding it. “Oh.” Her voice was flat. “Who?”

“A junior in my philosophy class. His name’s Ethan.”

Ethan. Junior. It wasn’t much, but those two pieces of information were all she needed. She didn’t have any junior friends, not that it mattered. She might have gone soft because of the person in front of her, but one hard glare and a few threats would be enough to remind people of the old her. The kid’s last name and a physical description would be easy to come by. And then she’d...she’d what? Wave a pair of sharp scissors in his face? Frighten him into staying away from Tori? It didn’t work like that and she knew it. If Tori had said yes to this kid and she ended up liking him, then there was nothing Jade could do. At that moment, she realized she hadn’t even asked Tori if she _had_ said yes.

“Did you...say yes?” There was an annoying lump in her throat.

_Please say no._

_Please say no._

She would probably die from internal combustion if she said yes.

“No.”

If she said yes, Jade was going to run to her car, slam the door shut, and speed home.

And she was probably, no, _definitely_ going to drown her sorrows in _The Scissoring_ and ice cream.

And a bit of alcohol. Yeah, some whiskey.

_Wait._

“No?” Jade repeated as her thoughts screeched to a stop, her mind finally catching up with what Tori had said probably a full minute ago.

“No,” Tori reaffirmed.

“Why?” she blurted out.

_Stupid. Stupid._ Why should she care? The important thing was that Tori had declined the boy. Vaguely, she thought that she should jump for joy! And, while she did feel relief pump through her, she realized she was also still tense.

A beautiful, bright blush filled Tori’s cheeks with color. The half-Latina sat up, adjusting her pillow so she could use it as a backrest, before she settled herself against the headboard. She tilted her head down and stared into her lap while her fingers absentmindedly flexed into the pink material of her covers.

“Tori?” Jade asked, voice soft as she noted the mood shift in the room.

The bed made a creaking sound as Jade stood up, only to dip again when she gently sat down in front of Tori. Her hand inched toward Tori’s jaw, wanting to lift her face so they could look at each other. However, she decided against it. Instead, she let it fall on Tori’s knee. Rubbing reassurance into the covered flesh, she spoke. “Tor?”

Tori’s milk chocolate eyes peeked at Jade from behind her hair. “Um, I’m...I’m not really into guys.”

“You’re not?” Jade asked dumbly.

Tori’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion, which was fair because she must have expected a different reaction than _whatever_ was happening to Jade at that moment. “No,” Tori said, regaining a bit of her confidence as her voice steadied. “I like girls.”

Jade’s face-splitting grin was going to leave her facial muscles sore the next day. She was still nervous, but whatever power that held over her was easily overcome by this new feeling of giddiness she was experiencing.

“Uh, Jade? Are you okay?” When Jade didn’t respond and simply gazed back at her, Tori got anxious. “Please tell me this isn’t some weird expression that actually means you’re mad at me. Because I think I would actually burst into tears if it was.”

“Will you go to the Winter Ball with me?” It was out of her mouth before she could even ask herself if the question was still appropriate given that Tori had just come out to her.

Tori frowned deeply. “Is that a joke? That’s not funny, Jade. I just told you I like girls and --”

“No,” Jade interrupted her. “It’s not a joke. I want to take you to the Winter Ball.”

“Like as your date?” Tori asked skeptically.

“Yes.”

Pouring every ounce of earnestness she could into her eyes, she locked gazes with Tori, letting the half-Latina know that she was serious.

Tori grinned, eyes sparkling with that same _something_ that was present during their evening at Dave & Busters all those months ago. “I would love to be your date, Jade West.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is from the song Girls by Girl In Red. 
> 
> Hey everyone! We're reaching the end of this one and my goal is to have everything at least written by the end of next weekend so...wish me luck?
> 
> Regardless, I hope y'all enjoy this chapter (let me know if you do?) and I'll be back soon.


	6. A Christmas Jori

“Cat, you’re not helping,” Jade spoke as softly as she could but it was impossible to keep the strain out of her voice. She rubbed the tips of her fingers gently against her temples, trying not to get frustrated by the antics of her redheaded friend, but it was hard. Man, it was hard.

They were seated at a little circular wooden table at the top floor food court of the Northridge mall. A large crowd bustled around them as people ordered food, ate with companions, or simply passed through. They were supposed to be finding a Christmas present for Tori – her stomach did a happy flip at the thought of the brunette beauty – but Jade knew Cat would want a treat first, so of course Jade had promised her ice cream.

But Cat was taking forever, her strawberry dessert melting into a sticky goo as she chirped happily about her recent movie marathon with Robbie. After making an absurd amount of popcorn, boyfriend and girlfriend had sat down to watch _The Lion King, Tarzan,_ and...Jade had checked out pretty shortly after.

“Sorry! Freezy Queen is _sooo_ good. I can’t eat it fast because then it’ll be all gone too soon.” Cat giggled. “What were we --”

Jade sighed. “Tori’s gift, Cat.”

“Right! I thought you didn’t like getting people presents,” Cat pointed out, looking at her curiously.

“I _don’t_! I’m a terrible gift-giver. I got Beck a can of lemonade for his birthday, remember?”

Cat let out an exaggerated sigh, “Yeah, not your finest moment, Jadey.”

“I thought he would like it,” Jade grumbled. “He loves lemonade.”

“Yeah, but a two-ninety-nine can that you can buy from a grocery store?” Cat looked shy for a second, as if Jade wouldn’t like what she had to say next. “It’s understandable why it came off as a throwaway gift.”

Forcefully rubbing her palm against the center of her forehead, Jade let out a frustrated breath, “Yeah, well, I’d prefer to avoid a repeat incident. So, can you help me or not?”

Cat rolled her spoon through her dessert, which had been reduced to liquid form, and placed the utensil in her mouth. She appeared thoughtful for a second before her face lit up, voice high with excitement. “Oh, I know! We could get Tori a fluffy rainbow unicorn and name it Mr. Cuddlesworth!”

“No!” Jade exclaimed, pinching the bridge of her nose when Cat shrunk back in her seat at the outburst. “I’m sorry, Cat. I’m just really frustrated and I _need_ this to go right. Although, Mr. Cuddlesworth might actually be a good gift for after a date.”

_Oops._

Three…

Two…

One...

Cat perked up and nearly toppled out of her chair, grabbing the table to steady herself. “Did you say ‘after a date’?”

“Um.” Was Tori okay with people knowing? She’d been nervous when she came out to Jade and they hadn’t exactly discussed what was okay to tell people and what wasn’t. So, she figured she was probably better safe than sorry. “No.”

“Yes, you did,” Cat argued, straightening in her seat as she became very attentive. “You said ‘Although, Mr. Cuddlesworth might actually be a good gift for after a date’. That’s word for word what you said.”

“No, it isn’t.”

“Yes, it _is._ ”

“No, it _isn’t._ ”

Cat crossed her arms across her chest, huffing in annoyance, her ice cream all but abandoned. “Liar, liar, pants on fire.”

It was useless. There was no getting around Cat. “ _Fine_. I asked Tori to the fucking Winter Ball, okay?”

With a squeal and in the blink of an eye, Cat ran around the table and hugged Jade, jumping back into her seat before the writer could finish registering what happened. “Yay! Does that mean you two are girlfriends now?”

That gave Jade pause. “I don’t...actually know.”

“You didn’t clarify that with her?”

Jade frowned. “No.”

She’d been so caught up in the fact that Tori had said yes to being her date that she really hadn’t thought of much else during the time they’d spent together afterwards. Since then, they had texted periodically each day and talked on the phone for hours each night. Yeah, there was an increase in communication, but they had still texted fairly often when they were “just friends”. She’d clarified that the Winter Ball was in fact going to be a date, but she didn’t want it to be a casual date. She wanted it to be her first date with her new girlfriend. In hindsight, she probably should have made that clear.

As far as she was aware, though, Tori wasn’t the kind of person who partook in casual dating. So, really, it was probably fine. It was something they could talk about on Christmas.

Cat remained silent, so Jade spoke up again. “But, anyway, gift ideas?” she prompted.

“Oh, Mr. Cuddlesworth was the only idea I had.”

Withholding a groan - because it wasn’t Cat’s fault she liked rainbows and fluffy things - Jade tapped her nails against the wood table. “What am I going to do?”

Instead of using her spoon to finish off the ice cream, Cat tilted the cup into her mouth and drank the rest of it. She shrugged, casually throwing out, “You could always ask Beck. He spends a lot of time with Tori now.”

Jade’s head snapped up. “That’s a great idea, Kitty-Kat.”

When Cat paid attention, she was smarter than most people gave her credit for.

* * *

“Hello?” called the slightly distorted voice over her Camaro’s Bluetooth.

“Are you busy?”

“Does it matter if I am?” Beck asked teasingly.

Jade laughed, enjoying her first truly lighthearted moment with her ex-boyfriend in a long time. They’d gotten back to the point of being friends over summer, but her jealousy of his relationship with Tori had halted a lot of the progress they’d made, something that seemed so stupid now. “I’d prefer a heads up if I’m about to walk in on you getting it on with some chick. But, otherwise, not really.”

Beck joined in on her laughter. “No, just me and my right hand.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“You brought it up.”

“I’ll be there in ten.”

Jade was about to press the button on her steering wheel to end the call, but Beck’s voice hurried over the line.

“Wait! You didn’t even tell me why you’re coming over.”

Jade rolled her eyes, checking her mirror, and looking over her right shoulder to make sure she could change lanes. “I need your help. You’re obligated to help me.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I’m bringing Mary Jane with me.”

“In that case, I await your arrival.”

She hung up and, after double-checking to make sure it was safe enough, increased the pressure of her foot on the gas pedal, propelling herself through a yellow light and closer to Beck’s house. Unable to make the next light before it turned red, she stopped for a moment to scroll through her playlist. When she found the song she wanted, she pressed play and sang the lyrics.

“Here I am, once again. Feeling lost, but now and then. I breathe it in, to let it go. And you don’t know where you are now, or what it would come to if only somebody could hear.”

When the light turned green, she gunned it, the lyrics belting from deep within her all the while.

* * *

“I’m telling you, dude, it’s going to be a blast. I mean, I get to work with Andrew Garfield! How many people get to say they’ve worked with Spider-Man?! And I’m not even twenty yet.” Beck passed the joint back to Jade, rolling his head back to stare dumbly at the ceiling, sufficiently baked.

Beck was telling her about a role he had landed in a television show. It was a pretty big one too, playing the best friend of the main character, who was the son of a lawyer played by Andrew Garfield. They’d been talking about it for the last thirty minutes and, really, Jade couldn’t be happier for him. When it was all said and done, she wanted him to be every bit as successful as she hoped to be.

Jade took a hit, a wide smile on her face as she watched her friend’s head rock back and forth. “You have to sneak me and Tori on set one day,” she demanded.

Beck remained fixated on the ceiling, no longer in control of his body. “I thought you didn’t like Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man.”

“He’s good. Tobey Maguire’s better. But, Tori _loves The Amazing Spider-Man_ and I think she’d just about have a heart attack if she stood in front of him.”

“You want to kill the person you like?” Beck tried to adjust his head to look at her, but without control of the motion his chin ended up bouncing against his chest.

Jade let the smoke rest in her lungs a bit longer before exhaling, enjoying the sensation of her head fogging up. “Um, about that. I asked Tori. You know, to the Winter Ball.”

Beck smiled lazily. “Yeah, she said yes, right?”

“How did you...wait, do you know that --”

“She likes girls? Yeah. More specifically, I’ve known for a while that she likes you.”

“What?!” Surprise colored Jade’s voice. “Is that why you told me not to worry when we talked in the janitor’s closet?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’. Clumsily, nearly falling face-first onto his bedsheets, he snagged the joint from her and took a big hit. Pretty soon, he was going to be greened out. “Whoever else that tried to ask Tori out had no chance. Nada. Zip. ‘Specially if they were a guy.”

Suddenly, a thought came to Jade. “Does Tori’s mom know too?”

Beck nodded. “Yeah, I was there when she told her parents over the summer.”

“Is that why her mom’s been acting...weird around me?”

Beck guffawed, handing the joint to her as he lost control of his laughter. In amusement, she watched as he struggled to get control of himself, his laughter only subsiding when he had to wipe the tears from his eyes. “If by acting weird you mean genuinely excited to see her daughter’s crush, then yes.”

Jade fell silent, her heart thumping against her chest. It felt...nice to have Tori’s parents seemingly be so interested in her. Like she was wanted and cared about. Her own mother had worked tirelessly to repair their own fractured relationship, and while they were in better standings with each other now, she wondered what it would be like to spend a week at the Vega household, going on fun dates as Tori’s girlfriend, spooning the half-Latina as they fell asleep together, and waking up to Tori’s parents cooking a homemade breakfast and treating her like one of their own. Like family. Something pulled deep within her, but it was a good pull.

“So,” Beck said, doing his best to sound like his brain wasn’t totally sky-high. “What exactly am I helping you with?”

Jade’s lips twitched up. “I need to get Tori a Christmas gift.”

He laughed. “Did a can of lemonade not sound good enough?”

Cheeks flushing, Jade pressed the palm of her hand into her forehead and let out a breathy noise of embarrassment. “When are people going to let that go?” she groaned.

Beck shrugged and fell back once more. “Never. Everyone has an embarrassing moment that haunts them forever. The lemonade incident is yours.”

Jade sighed, tilting her head to stare at Beck’s crumpled bedsheets. “Maybe I should just buy her a bag of charcoal since she likes to grill now.”

Beck pointed a lazy finger somewhere in her general direction. “If you do, I will tell her myself to never speak to you again.”

“Ugh, what do I do?!” She laid down, her head at the foot of the bed, and kicked at Beck’s leg with her own.

“Hey!” he protested, lightly kicking her back. “Well, why does Tori go to Hollywood Arts?”

Jade frowned. “Music. What kind of stupid question is that?”

“And why is Tori at Hollywood Arts for music?”

Jade started to grow frustrated at the line of questioning, feeling like a child. Though, she was at a kindergarten level when it came to gift-giving, so maybe the child-like treatment was warranted. “Because she’s a talented singer and performer and has a passion for music. She loves it to death.”

“So…” Beck prompted.

“So…” The glowing light bulb was blinding over her head. “I should get her a present that has to do with music!”

“Yes!” exclaimed Beck, pumping his fist in victory. Yeah, he was definitely high as a kite.

“But I don’t know what.” She stopped for a moment, really trying to think through the haze of her brain. A vague rendering of Tori’s room filled her mind’s eye and grew more detailed the longer she thought about it. “She has a turntable, right?”

“Yep. And a vinyl collection.”

“What’s missing?”

Beck cocked a brow at her. “You do know that I’m basically the one giving Tori this Christmas gift if I tell you, right? I deserve one-hundred percent of the credit.”

“Ninety-percent,” Jade argued with a smirk. “I’m the one buying it for her.”

* * *

On Christmas Eve, the door to the Vega household swung open.

“Good evening, pretty lady,” Jade said, smirking as she walked past Tori, whose blush was growing rapidly, and set her bag down near the front closet.

“H-Hi!” Tori stuttered.

The front door of the Vega household shut behind Jade with a loud click.

She took a moment to take in the atmosphere. The Vegas hadn’t done much decorating aside from the bright red lights that covered the outside of their home, but there were stockings hanging above the lit stone fireplace. David’s stocking was a plain black while Holly’s was a forest green. A deep blue color with the embroidered phrase “Make It Shine” signified Tori’s and Trina’s was identifiable by the cranberry red material with the word “She-cago” scrawled across it.

It was cute and homey, but not overly so. Jade decided she liked it.

“Tori!” Trina’s voice shouted from her room. The sound of hurried footsteps filled Jade’s ears. “Who’s here? Is it Andre?” The older Vega sister poked her head down the stairs, her hair flying across her face as she whipped her head, expression souring at the sight of Jade. “Oh, it’s you.”

A biting retort was about to leave Jade’s lips, but she paused. Tori was her _something_ – which would be clarified later in the night, preferably soon – and Trina was her sister. Plus, it was Christmas Eve. She should try to be nice, right? With a deep breath, she forced a pleasant smile onto her face. She waved at the older girl. “Hi, Trina. Merry Christmas.”

Trina’s eyes narrowed as a momentary silence overtook the three girls. When it was clear Jade wasn’t going to say anything else, Trina spoke up uncertainly, “Uh…Merry Christmas to you too?” In a lower voice, but still loud enough to hear, she added, “This is so weird. I’m going back to my room.”

“You look really pretty,” Tori breathed out.

Jade glanced down at the red lace blouse and loose black jeans she was wearing. The top was hollowed out in the arms and around the neck, leaving a little bit of her cleavage visible, but not anywhere near enough to make it inappropriate for the occasion. Her gaze traveled to Tori, who was dressed in a white high collar sweater and a simple pair of black leggings. The brunette hair on the top of her head was in a lazy bun, while the rest flowed freely down her back and shoulders. “So do you,” Jade whispered back.

They stared at each other for a few moments, a silence both awkward and somehow comfortable overtaking them, before Tori cleared her throat. “Who’s that for?”

“Huh? Oh.” She looked down at the thin yet long gift box in her hands, which she had forgotten about in her captivation with the half-Latina in front of her. “You.”

Tori gave her a bright smile. “I got you something too.”

“You didn’t have to,” Jade said, but her own smile was already growing wider.

“Wanna open yours now?”

With a playful glare, Jade moved to set her present underneath the Christmas tree. “Later. _After_ everyone else leaves.”

Tori pouted. “But I want to see your face when you open it,” she whined, following Jade deeper into the room. They sat down on one of the couches, their sides pressed together, and Jade swore she felt a spark jolt through her.

“You will,” Jade promised. “I’ll probably be tipsy by then, so you’ll get more than your money’s worth too.”

“Oh,” said Tori, raising an intrigued eyebrow. There was a light blush on her face. “Is that so?”

“Oh my God, Tori, not – that’s not what I meant.” Her own cheeks flushed.

“Well, what did you mean?” Tori’s cheeks were becoming redder by the second. She glanced away in embarrassment. 

“I meant that I would probably overreact because of the alcohol or something, not that…Christ, we haven’t even – look, I was talking to Cat and she made me realize that I need to clarify a few things with you,” Jade finally stumbled out.

After a few beats, Tori tilted her head to look at her, eyes shining with curiosity and a little worry. “Clarify? What is there to clarify?”

She thought about it for a moment, wondering how she should approach the topic, before deciding that the straightforward route was the best way. Now that their feelings for each other were out in the open, there was no reason to beat around the bush. “I know I asked you out to the Winter Ball as a date, but I need to make sure you know that it isn’t just some casual thing. I don’t want that. I want it to be our first night out together as girlfriends.”

Tori smiled, pressing herself deeper into Jade’s side. On a reflex, Jade’s arm wrapped around the half-Latina as she waited eagerly for a response. “I want that too,” Tori said, the corners of her lips flicking upwards.

The door leading to the garage opened up with a startling bang as the Vega parents stumbled into the kitchen, packs of Smirnoff Ice filling their hands. With a pant, Holly placed the drinks onto the kitchen island, leaning against it as she rubbed at her arm. “Geez, I need to get back into shape.”

David followed behind her, setting a few additional containers next to hers. “There’s a bench press right in the garage, honey.” His eyes traveled to the living room and narrowed at the space – or lack thereof – between his daughter and Jade.

Tori seemed to catch on quickly, detaching herself from the space between Jade’s arm and her side, and scooting to the middle of the couch. “We weren’t doing anything, papá,” she said hurriedly.

David moved away from the island, making his way towards them, his eyes never leaving Jade. He opened his mouth and asked the most cliché dad question of all time. “What are your intentions with my daughter?” 

Tori looked mortified. “Papá!”

“David,” Holly’s voice was sharp, a look of warning on her face. “You promised.”

“Oh, come on,” he grumbled, face falling. “I was just trying to mess around a little.” He retreated back to the kitchen, clearly put out that his fun had been ruined before it even had a chance to begin. “You’re here a bit early, Jade,” he commented as he moved toward a bowl of cookies on the counter and popped one into his mouth.

It still weirded Jade out how Tori’s parents acted like they’d spoken to her thousands of times before. “I had to talk to Tori about something important. Beck’s going to be a little bit late, but everyone else should be here soon, Mr. Vega.”

Tori’s dad rolled his eyes at the formality. “It’s David, especially since Tori told us that you asked her to the dance. No need for proper titles and all that chiz.” He paused, eyeing the plethora of alcohol spread out before him. “Well, since I’m apparently not allowed to have any fun, do you girls want to crack open the first drinks of the night?”

Jade shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head when Tori looked at her questioningly. Why the hell not? They were all going to drink anyway. They might as well get started as soon as possible. As the two girls rose from the couch, Jade intertwined her fingers with Tori’s and watched a soft smile grow on the other girl’s lips.

“Wait!” exclaimed Holly. “Before _anyone_ drinks _anything_ , I have to be a responsible supervisor. Do you have a ride home, Jade?”

Jade nodded in the affirmative. “My mom is going to pick me up around eleven-thirty.”

“Okay,” said Holly. “Two drinks is the limit.”

“Two?! That’s a bit restricting. Why not four?” David raised an eyebrow at his wife. “We bought plenty for everyone. Plus, they’re teenagers. Tori’s probably drank behind our back enough that two drinks won’t even get her tipsy.”

Holly’s look was incredulous. “David Pirri Vega, you are an officer of the law.”

Jade watched in slight awe as Tori’s parents bantered back and forth, neither one of them raising their voices at the other as they debated. So, this was what normal parents were supposed to be like. Or, maybe they were just on the other side of the abnormal parent spectrum.

“It’s Christmas Eve,” he pointed out. “Let the kids have some fun. Besides, you’re the one that didn’t bust our daughter’s new girlfriend for getting our little girl high.”

Holly pinched the bridge of her nose. “That was different. It was just Tori and Jade that night. Tonight, we’re also responsible for the rest of Tori’s friends.”

With puppy dog eyes directed at his wife, David made one final attempt. “I promise I’ll look after them.”

Holly sighed, though the beginnings of a smile were evident on her lips. “ _Fine_ , but four is still too much. I’ll allow three drinks.”

David hid his smirk as he walked out of the kitchen, only revealing it once he was in front of the two girls. “You’re welcome,” he whispered.

* * *

A short while later, a little bit past the time guests were supposed to arrive, their friends started to trickle through the door. Holly was there to greet them, wishes of a “Merry Christmas” welcoming each one. Of course, once that formality was out of the way, she made sure Robbie, Cat, Andre, and, when he finally arrived twenty minutes after everyone else, Beck, all had a way to get home safely. The woman was a machine when she was in overprotective mother mode, and Jade couldn’t help but be impressed.

When Beck walked into the living room, he pulled Tori into a hug and whispered something into her ear, handing her one of the two small, neatly wrapped gifts in his hand. Nobody had been required to bring gifts with them. In fact, Tori had explicitly stated not to because they were high school seniors and money was tight. But Beck ignored the rule for Tori and – maybe it was because of the deep-seated peace that had enveloped her since Tori agreed to be her date to the dance – Jade found she wasn’t the slightest bit jealous.

Once Holly was sure everyone would be alright, she promised that she and David would make themselves scarce after they’d finished preparing dinner for the group. It looked like a big task, and it was probably a bigger one than it looked, so Jade made sure to make her way to the kitchen while they were cooking to say her thanks.

While Tori and Jade were already one Smirnoff Ice deep, everyone else agreed to wait until after dinner to crack open their bottles. The jacuzzi, which was being heated up for later in the night, was the main attraction, but there was still plenty to do before that, like watching Cat’s favorite animated Christmas movies.

Though she acted like the idea was unappealing, Jade didn’t put up too much outward resistance, especially because Tori practically curled herself into her side, burying her head into a pale neck. On instinct, Jade dropped a quick kiss onto the top of Tori’s head. She realized that some of their friend group still didn’t know, but when her head shot up, the only one with a baffled expression was Robbie. He pointed at her and then at Tori, his wordless question obvious, and Jade nodded. He gave a thumbs-up, and she was pretty sure that was one of the most civil interactions they’d ever had.

“I told Andre,” Tori’s breath fanned against her neck, filling her ear, and Jade resisted a shudder. “He’s one of my best friends.”

Jade remained silent, softly squeezing Tori’s shoulder, and watched as Professor Hinkle started his opening monologue and _Frosty the Snowman_ unfolded before her. Midway through the film, she found herself gazing down at Tori, who seemed quite comfortable in the space underneath Jade’s arm, her own wrapped around the raven-haired girl’s back. She brushed a few strands of brunette hair behind Tori’s ear, which earned her a content sigh.

During the break between Frosty and _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_ , Beck caught Jade’s eye while Tori was in the bathroom, motioning for her to come with him upstairs. Furrowing her brows, she stood up and followed behind him. When they got to the top, Jade looked at him expectantly. “What’s up?”

“Wanted to get away for a moment so I could give you your present.” He chuckled nervously as he fidgeted with the nape of his neck. “It’s, uh, kind of personal,” he said, explaining Jade’s unanswered question of why he didn’t hand it to her in front of their friends.

He handed her the gift, which was wrapped in black wrapping paper, white scissors lining the paper in rows. Wordlessly, she opened the material, being careful not to create a big mess. A black box greeted her. Popping off the lid, she let out a small gasp. What greeted her was Beck’s favorite pocket knife. The black handle was adorned with an enlarged red spider that appeared to be crawling toward the wrist of whoever wielded it. She flipped it open, eyeing the blade, which was the same color red as the spider, and noted that it was newly sharpened.

“Beck,” she breathed, voice filled with awe. “I…I can’t take this. You bought it the summer after we first started dating, when your parents took us to Las Vegas. It’s your favorite.”

He smiled, the look in his eyes one of love. It wasn’t the look of someone _in love_ , but it was just…simple love, and Jade was sure the grin on her face matched his. “I know. But I was looking over my collection and…I knew that it belonged to you. I bought it at the start of our relationship and now I want you to have it at the start of your new one. Just…keep it on you, and it’ll be like I’m protecting two of my best friends.”

Carefully tucking the blade away, she placed the knife in her right pocket. She leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck and he hugged her back, pulling her close for a moment before stepping away.

“Beck?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re the best friend ever.”

“Love you too, Jade.”

* * *

After a few more animated specials, they ate dinner, which was delicious. Jade was surprised since she hadn’t pegged anyone in the Vega family as a good cook. She figured Tori had to get her previous ineptitude in the kitchen from somewhere, but David eagerly explained to everyone around the table that he had loved to cook since he was a kid. It was evident in the way he had gone all out for their group. Their meal consisted of peppercorn beef tenderloin, roasted Brussels sprouts, garlic mashed potatoes, and buttered rolls. She wanted to eat more than she did, but too much food in her stomach wouldn’t exactly make her feel well when she opened her next bottle of alcohol.

When everyone was done with their food, Jade insisted on helping Tori’s parents clean up. She badly wanted to get in the jacuzzi, but she also knew she had to make a good impression on David and Holly. Being in their good graces was far more important than a few extra minutes in hot water. Of course, Tori wasn’t about to leave Jade alone with her parents, so the four of them worked their way around the kitchen. Tori and Holly were normally the ones designated to clean-up duty after David cooked a meal, so the edition of two more people – one who had never worked the Vega kitchen in such a way before – made it chaotic. Nonetheless, after a few minutes passed by and the tension departed from her body, Jade found herself having fun.

The whole family was infectious, really.

When Holly exited the kitchen, David quickly snuck an additional bottle of alcohol from one of the packages. He handed it to Tori with a simple command. “Go put this in your room and make sure your mother doesn’t see you.”

He winked before disappearing into the garage. 

“Your dad’s really cool,” Jade said as the two of them stepped into the living room. She grabbed her bag, which contained her swimsuit, towel, and Beck’s pocket knife, and followed Tori to the stairs.

Tori peeled one of the sweater’s sleeves away from her skin and slid the bottle of alcohol inside, trapping it between her skin and the material of her garment in an attempt to be stealthy. It didn’t work. A large bulge on the inside of her arm clearly outlined the object. Jade gave her a pointed look, cocking an amused eyebrow, and Tori looked at her with wide eyes.

“I don’t know what to do,” Tori whispered as they ascended the steps. “I’m not a sneaky person.”

Jade laughed, but kept her voice low as they passed Trina’s room. “Tori, it’s literally like ten more steps to your room. Quit worrying.”

“Easy for you to say. I still can’t believe you didn’t get busted when my mom found you _high_ in the kitchen!”

“Hey! I wouldn’t have been in the kitchen if your stoned ass didn’t have the munchies.”

“You had them too!”

And, well, Tori had her there.

After hiding the bottle underneath her bed and promising to split it with Jade later, Tori told Jade to use her bathroom to change into her swimsuit. Jade changed quickly, stuffing her outfit into her bag, and slipping on a simple black two piece. She knocked on the door, signaling that she was ready to come out, and opened it when Tori called through the door that she was changed. When Jade stepped back into the youngest Vega’s bedroom, the half-Latina was wearing a pink swimsuit with a strapless top.

“What?” Tori asked when she noticed Jade’s amusement.

“Nothing, you just really have an obsession with pink.”

Tori shut the door to her bedroom behind them. “What’s wrong with pink?”

“It’s girlie.”

“Well, in case it somehow slipped your mind, I _am_ a girl.” Grabbing the railing, Tori hopped over the last few steps and landed by the piano. “Besides, anyone can like whatever color they want. It doesn’t matter if they’re a boy or a girl. Robbie loves pink.”

Jade scoffed. “Does that really help your argument?”

Tori rolled her eyes, opening the slider door for Jade. “After you, m’lady,” she said playfully with a British accent. 

Jade slipped into the intonation effortlessly. “When our mates leave, shall we go for a spot of tea?” Tori’s eyes were locked on her lips as she spoke, and Jade felt her heart rate increase to a startling speed. The half-Latina clearly wanted to make a remark, and by the look of captivation on her face, it was a sexual one. Jade beat her to the punch, leaning in close as they approached the jacuzzi so their friends wouldn’t be able to hear. “Or, perhaps there’s something better we could do,” suggested Jade, her breath fanning against the shell of Tori’s ear.

A soft gasp left Tori’s mouth. Cat’s head snapped up at the noise while the rest of their friends remained distracted with their conversations.

“What’s wrong, Tori?”

“Nothing, Cat. Everything’s great,” Tori said, her voice normal. But the slightly dazed expression in her eyes was evident. Jade had been right when she told Lane that Tori’s eyes always gave her away. 

Cat didn’t seem to notice, though, because she patted the water next to her, watching the small splashes in fascination. “Hop in! The water’s warm,” she giggled.

Jade stepped in first, sitting down next to Cat. Tori glanced around the hot tub for a place to sit. She spotted a space across from Jade between Beck and Andre, but it was a tight fit. Before she could take a step in that direction though, Jade snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her into her lap. After a brief moment of surprise, Tori sunk into her.

Jade caught Beck’s smirk from across the jacuzzi. “Beck, pass me two bottles.”

He reached behind him, grabbing two unopened Smirnoff Ices, and passed them to Jade. She uncapped both of them and handed one to Tori, who whispered a “thank you”.

Jade didn’t talk much, and neither did Tori. Both were content to be there with their friends and to enjoy the feel of their skin pressed together. Jade noted that their physical connection came rather easily. It had taken her a while to get used to Beck’s touch, and yet she’d never had any problem with Tori’s. Even before they were friends, Jade had no complaint about the half-Latina being physical with her. Now that they were dating – or going to date – Jade was expecting them to end up in similar positions more frequently, and she found that she was looking forward to it.

By the time each member of their group hit the imposed limit of three drinks for the night, Robbie had floated to the slightly deeper center of the hot tub, visibly drunker than the rest. Every time he managed to work his way back to his seat, his body gave up on him and he found himself back in the middle again. After multiple failed attempts, Beck finally had to pull Robbie back to his seat and hold him there with a firm grasp, which upset Trina, who was trying to have a conversation with him.

When David poked his head out, Robbie was singing a drunken rendition of “Broken Glass” with Andre, who was trying his best to steer them into a more sonically pleasing version of the song, but Robbie was having none of it. David’s face scrunched up at the noise and he quickly shouted over it. “I’m sure everyone’s enjoying themselves, and I’m sorry to rain on the parade, but I did promise my wife I would be a responsible guardian. You guys have been in there for a while, and I don’t want anybody getting dehydrated, so I’d recommend getting out soon.”

Beck and Andre took charge, helping Robbie and Cat out of the hot tub and handing them towels. Trina got out and dried herself off as she side-eyed Jade and Tori. The two girls stepped out, Tori stumbling slightly as the alcohol hit her with the movement. Jade was there in an instant, holding her steady and passing her a towel.

“Thanks,” mumbled Tori.

“You’re clumsy.” But Jade was feeling the buzz of the alcohol too, so she didn’t hesitate to press her lips against Tori’s cheek.

“Awww,” cooed Cat. “Jade’s a softie!”

“Never speak of it.”

* * *

“Open it,” insisted Tori.

“You open yours.”

“No, I told you to do it first.”

“Tori, _open it_. Or I will drink the rest of this bottle and tell your mom you snuck it into your room.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I _would_. Well, the first part, I would.”

Around eleven, thirty minutes before Jade’s mom was supposed to pick her up, the two girls were sprawled on Tori’s bed. Jade was settled against the headboard, one of Tori’s fluffy pillows pressed between her back and the wood panel. Tori’s head rested at the foot of her bed, her body angled so that her legs splayed atop Jade’s own.

“Why won’t you just open yours first?” asked Tori.

Jade groaned, taking a sip of the drink before handing it off to Tori. “Because I’m anxious for you to open yours and if I have to wait even a little bit longer, I’m going to _explode_. So, please, just open it.”

Tori sat up to look at her. “Why are you anxious?”

“Because I want you to like it.”

“Jade –”

“ _Open it_.”

“Okay,” Tori relented. She reached for the abnormally-shaped box, smiling at the pink wrapping paper, before taking great care to peel the material away. She let out a soft gasp when she saw the four chimneys of the Battersea Power Station in Wandsworth, England, an inflatable pig floating between two of them. With more eagerness, she finished tearing the paper. She picked up Pink Floyd’s _Animals_ in vinyl, staring at it with a wide grin. When she looked back down, she spotted another vinyl cover. This one depicted an old man bending over his cane, a stack of wood sticks on his back, which was the simplistic album art for _Led Zeppelin IV._ “Jade! How did you know my collection was missing these?”

Jade rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Um, I had a little help from Beck. You know I’m not the best gift-giver, so he helped point me in the right direction.” She decided to leave it at that. Tori didn’t need to know that Beck had literally told her which two the half-Latina wanted most. “Do you…like them? I know you probably would have gotten them eventually, so they’re nothing special, but I know collecting vinyl can get expensive.”

“Jade, I _love_ them.” Tori clambered to her knees, flailing as she shuffled to the top of the bed. She planted a kiss on a pale cheek and wrapped her arms around Jade.

Jade couldn’t help the blush on her cheeks as she returned the hug, enjoying the sappiness of the moment. “Are you sure you've sobered up?”

Tori frowned. “I thought I was.”

“I did say that you’re a lightweight.”

“I am not,” Tori huffed, nudging Jade’s present towards her. “Open it.”

“So demanding,” Jade whispered. “I like it.”

“ _Jade!_ ”

“Okay, okay! Opening the present now.”

The gift, wrapped in all-black wrapping paper, was small, about the size of a necklace box, which was exactly what she found when she removed the paper. She ran her fingers across the smooth velvet of the black case, only hesitating for a moment before it was popped open. She gently removed it and placed it in the palm of her hand, examining it closely. Attached at the end of the black chain was a miniature raven’s skull, intricately detailed to make it look like the creature had been dead for quite some time. It was discolored and cracked with black marks that spread outward from the eyes. Jade didn’t mind normal jewelry, but Tori had hit the nail on the head when it came to something that would fit her personality.

“You like it?” Tori asked, but she could tell from Jade’s awed expression that she did.

Jade nodded vigorously, handing the necklace to Tori. “Put it on me?”

Tori took the piece of jewelry and sat behind Jade. She brushed aside Jade’s dark locks, her fingers sending a shiver through Jade when they gently grazed the back of her neck. Reaching over Jade’s shoulders, Tori maneuvered the skull so it sat atop the middle of Jade’s chest before clasping the chain together at the back of her neck.

When Jade’s mom texted her that she was waiting in the car only a few minutes later, Tori seemed disappointed that their night had reached an end. Still, she walked Jade down the stairs and to the front door, making sure she had everything in her bag. Jade thought that was where Tori would leave her, but the half-Latina slipped on a pair of flip-flops and walked her to the car. After Tori exchanged pleasantries with Jade’s mom, Jade gave her another kiss on the cheek and said goodnight. She climbed into the passenger seat, watching as Tori retreated indoors. A few moments later, the lights in the living room flicked off, and Jade’s mom pulled away from the house.

“What is he doing here?” asked Jade, turning in her seat to find her brother staring at her silently, trying his best to stay awake. 

“He told me he had a plan to wake up in the middle of the night so he could ambush Santa. I figured I would keep him up and active as late as possible, so he’d have no choice but to pass out.”

“You know Santa’s –”

“Jadelyn,” her mother warned sternly.

“Yes?”

“Don’t.” Silence filled the car as they traveled the streets back home, nobody talking for some time. Just when Jade was starting to close her eyes, her mother spoke up again. “You kissed Tori on the cheek,” she said casually.

Jade sighed, annoyed that her peace was ruined before it had even begun. “So?”

“So, it doesn’t seem like something you’d normally do. You’re not the most…enthusiastic about physical touch.”

“Where are you going with this?” Jade asked, rolling her eyes.

“I’m just wondering if there’s something going on there.”

Jade’s eyes fell on the back seat. Her brother was slumped over, fast asleep with his head tilted sideways. She turned to face the front windshield, not looking at her mother when she spoke. “She’s my girlfriend.” She gritted her teeth, a hard edge punctuating her words. “Is that a problem?”

Jade felt her mom’s hand rest on her shoulder. She stiffened at the touch, turning her head in time to see her mom’s quick smile.

“Not at all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go! Also, we're going to ignore all the show's hints of trouble brewing in the Vega family and just say they're a happy family in this fic.


	7. Touching Her Was Like

When Jade woke on the morning of the Winter Ball, she was every bit as stressed as she was ecstatic. Thoughts of the dance ran rampant through her head during the night. As a result, she didn’t sleep much. The few hours of sleep she did get were restless and filled with tossing and turning, which meant she not only looked terrible, she felt terrible too.

Her mom must have been anticipating this because when Jade walked into the kitchen, still dressed in her black pajamas and her hair resembling a rat’s nest, there was a freshly brewed pot of coffee waiting for her. She clumsily reached for a mug from the cabinet, muttering an obscenity at how much effort the action required. She poured the coffee into her mug, taking an eager sip. The liquid was still too hot, but she didn’t care. She was tired and grumpy, and coffee was the only solution to her problem.

Halfway through her first cup, her mom came out of the bathroom. When she saw Jade’s messy state, her smile was knowing. “Big day today,” was all her mom said as she stepped into the kitchen.

Jade’s response was an annoyed grunt. Why did her sleep the night before have to be so shit? Today was such an important day and, to put it lightly, it was starting on the wrong foot.

Her mom opened the freezer, peaking inside it. “Chocolate chip or cheese bagel?”

“Cheese.”

Her mom nodded, pulling out one chocolate chip bagel for herself and one cheese bagel for Jade. She placed the bagels on a plate and stuck them in the microwave for fifteen seconds to speed up the thawing process. By the time the food was placed in the toaster, Jade had finished her first cup of coffee and had moved on to her second. She took a long sip and sighed in content. Her annoyance with the previous night and the beginning of the morning hadn’t disappeared completely, but she felt like she was capable of holding a conversation without wanting to throttle the other person now.

“Thanks for the coffee,” she told her mom, offering a tight smile.

“Of course, sweetie. I had a feeling you might need it.”

Jade grimaced, her eyebrows knitting together in irritation. “Yeah, no, don’t call me that.”

Her mom laughed loudly, which gave Jade pause. She still wasn’t completely used to that sound coming from her mother, who had once been cold and distant. It was nice to be relaxed around her, even if it was still a bit weird. “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

While her mom spread a generous amount of cream cheese on the bagels, Jade contemplated a third cup of coffee. Two was usually her morning limit, with a third saved for later in the day, but today seemed as good a day as any to go against her norm. She poured a third mug, taking her time before she answered the question. “I’m supposed to pick Tori up around six-thirty, so I’ll have a few minutes to talk to her family before I take her to the dance, which starts at seven.”

Her mom nodded, taking a seat at the table. Jade followed suit, setting down her coffee mug to take a bite of her cheese bagel. The teasing look on her mom’s face made Jade raise an eyebrow. “What are you planning to do after the dance?” 

“Uh…take Tori home and drive back here? What else would I do?”

Her mom wiped the cream cheese from her lips. “Have you thought about whether or not you’re going to go for a goodnight kiss?”

“I’m not answering that,” Jade deadpanned, looking away from her mother.

“Well, why not? It’s just a question.”

Jade scoffed. “That’s the cheesiest, most romantic movie thing ever.”

Her mom laughed again, obviously in good spirits. “You have a girlfriend, Jade. I’m sure Tori would welcome the romantic gesture.”

Finishing the first half of her bagel, she took a big drink from her mug before giving her mom a hard look. “Are you going to torture me all day today?”

The older West woman shrugged. “I’m just saying. Besides, you kissed Tori on the cheek a few nights ago.”

“So?”

“Sooo,” her mom drawled, “that was romantic.”

“You’re going to make me puke,” Jade said, voice monotone, before starting in on the second half of her bagel.

Her brother padded down the stairs, looking well-rested and self-satisfied. He’d been smug since he’d found out that Jade was now, in fact, girlfriends with Tori, proving that his prediction at the beginning of the semester had been correct.

“Good morning, Tori’s girlfriend,” her brother chirped as he set about searching for his own breakfast.

Jade’s lips twisted into a faux smile. “Morning, brother who _doesn’t_ have a girlfriend.”

“That’s uncalled for.” He pulled the box of Lucky Charms from the cereal cabinet and grabbed a bowl before opening the refrigerator for the milk.

Jade watched him as he first dumped a generous amount of cereal into the bowl – like a normal person – before pouring some milk. “Whatever you say, _Dick_.”

Her little brother turned to their mom, a pout on his face. “Mom?”

Her mom looked up from her phone, trying to suppress a smile. “Yes, dear?” 

“Tell Jade to stop being mean to me.”

“Jade,” the eldest West’s voice was stern, but Jade could tell from the sudden upturn of her lips that she found the situation amusing. “Stop being mean to your brother.”

Jade finished her breakfast and drained the rest of her coffee. She got up to put the plate and the mug in the dishwasher. “I’m good, thanks.”

She shot her brother a smirk before hurrying downstairs to her room.

She pulled up her laptop and searched for funny moment compilations to keep her mind occupied until she needed to pick Tori up. The distraction was much needed, especially with so many hours left until the events she was anxious about. She wanted the night to be perfect and the more she thought about it, the more worried she became that she would somehow mess it up. So, she lost herself in the videos.

Around thirty minutes later, she noticed that her body was shaking. The tremors weren’t powerful enough for her to worry, but they were noticeable enough that she was having difficulty focusing all of a sudden. She frowned at the development. Had she seriously drunk too much coffee? She supposed it was possible, since she had broken her self-imposed morning limit after all. Reaching for her phone, she found herself texting Tori without even thinking about it.

**I think I have the jitters**

**You? The jitters? Really?**

**Yes**

**I can’t focus and I’m shaking**

**How much coffee did you have?**

**Three cups back-to-back over breakfast**

**Jade…**

**What??**

**I didn’t know this would happen**

**It’s what happens whenever anyone drinks too much caffeine!**

**I thought I was immune to it**

**Half of my body is made out of that shit**

**You poor thing**

**At least you’re my poor thing**

Jade’s heart fluttered as she stared at the text, a wide grin adorning her lips as she read it a few times over.

**You’re so corny**

**You love it**

**Do I?**

**I don’t think I do**

**Watch it Jade**

**Or no goodnight kiss for you**

**I’m getting a goodnight kiss?**

**Well, I was going to give you one**

**But…**

Jade waited for the three dots to appear again but, after a few minutes, they still hadn’t shown up. Her fingers flew across the digital keyboard.

**Tori?**

Again, she received no immediate answer.

**Tori??**

This time, the three dots appeared soon after her message sent.

**Hmmm, yes?**

**I want a goodnight kiss**

**And you might get one**

**If you’re good**

Jade’s whole body flooded with warmth, cheeks staining a deep red. The sentence was a simple one but now that they were dating, there was an entendre to it that she couldn’t ignore. Her mind started to wander as she imagined just what Tori was implying by that statement. Probably nothing in the same vain as what she was letting herself visualize, but the beginnings of a fantasy started to form all the same…until she reminded herself of reality.

They were going on their first date, which would be a public event where they would be surrounded by their friends and faculty supervisors. The most they’d physically done was kiss each other on the cheek. There was no chance they would be doing what Jade had just been thinking about any time soon and, honestly, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. There would be time enough for it later. She quickly shook the horny thoughts from her head, sending Tori a text back.

**So**

**What’ve you been doing today?**

**Waiting impatiently for it to be 6:30**

Roughly half a minute passed by before the next message was sent and, after reading it, Jade wondered if it was because Tori thought she was coming off as clingy. 

**I really want to see you**

Jade didn’t think so. Not one bit.

**You’ll see me soon**

God, she couldn’t wait.

* * *

The drive to the Vega household felt like hours, but in reality she got there faster than usual. Her speeding probably had something to do with that. It wasn’t her smartest idea. If she’d been caught, she would have been late to pick up Tori. And then she would have had to explain to Tori the reasoning behind why she was delayed, which would have resulted in her girlfriend definitely being mad at her. In hindsight, it was something she didn’t plan to repeat again.

But she was excited and dressed up and so ready to enjoy the night.

Her dress wasn’t the fanciest one in her closet, but she also didn’t think it was necessary to wear something too over the top to a school dance, just something that was enough to catch Tori’s eye. Her black dress was simple, with lace detailing on the arms. It fell to just above her knees. The slit exposed a small portion of her thigh, something she hoped with a giddy feeling Tori would be drawn toward. She didn’t use much makeup since she wasn’t the biggest fan of it, so she settled on soft smokey eyes and nude lipstick.

Shutting off her car, Jade took a few deep breaths in a mostly futile attempt to calm her nerves. She got out of the Camaro and locked it before making her way to the porch. She knocked on the front door. A sudden desire to tap her foot to a non-existent rhythm filled her. With each passing moment, she was growing antsier and the temptation became harder to resist. She knocked again, harder this time, when nobody answered. The sound of approaching footsteps reached her and the door was pulled open soon after.

“Hi, Jade!” Holly greeted with a warm smile.

“Hi, Mrs. V…Holly,” Jade replied. She still wasn’t used to the informality.

Holly gave her a once-over. “You look pretty!”

“Thank you.”

“Mom, is that Jade?”

Jade craned her neck to look over Holly’s shoulder and spotted a blur of brunette hair at the bottom of the staircase.

“Yes, dear, she’s here.”

Holly stepped to the side to let Jade through, but she remained in the doorway, eyes locked on Tori. Whereas Jade had gone for subtle sexiness with her attire, Tori’s dress was pretty in an elegant way. It was pink, just like Jade had imagined it would be, and it was an off-the-shoulder piece with a flowing skirt that covered her tanned skin. Jade recovered from her stunned state enough to step into the house and shut the door behind her.

“Hi.” Jade willed her voice to stay even as she finally ripped her gaze from Tori’s dress to look the other girl in the eye.

“H-h-hi,” Tori stumbled out. She cleared her throat, trying again. “You look beautiful.”

“So do you.”

Holly watched the exchange with amusement before walking toward David, who was drinking a beer in the kitchen. He looked tired, like he had just returned from a long day at work, but ingredients were laid out on the counter behind him, which meant he was most likely going to cook dinner once Jade had left with his daughter.

The only man of the Vega household brought up a hand in greeting. “Jade! How are you?”

“I’m good,” she reminded herself to use his first name, “David. How are you?”

He took a swig of beer before standing up from the table to wrap an arm around his wife’s shoulder. “Tired, but good. When do you two need to get going?”

Jade pulled her phone out of her black clutch to check the time. “Soon. I don’t want us to be late.”

“Alright,” David said before turning to face his wife. Something passed between the two of them and Holly nodded. When David next looked at Jade, the expression on his face had grown serious. Tori groaned next to her, apparently knowing what was going to come next. “Listen, Jade. We’re pretty lenient parents. I’d like to think we’re even _cool_ parents. That being said, and I don’t mean to insinuate that you won’t, please be good to our daughter.”

Jade offered him a reassuring smile. That was easy. “Of course. I wouldn’t dream of doing anything else.”

David nodded, pleased with her answer. “Good. Now, you girls have fun, okay?”

“We will, papá.” Tori wrapped both of her parents in a quick hug before taking Jade’s hand and tugging her towards the front door.

But David wasn’t done talking. “Have her back as soon as the dance is over. And no funny business.”

Or embarrassing his daughter.

“Papá!” Tori was horrified.

Her dad laughed. “Bye, sweetheart.”

Once they were outside, Jade guided Tori towards her Camaro. “I have something for you.”

Tori waited, a soft smile on her face, as Jade dug around in her backseat before standing back up, a plastic container in her hands. Jade popped it open and turned around to show Tori what was inside.

“Is that a chrysanthemum?” Tori asked, staring at the white mound of petals that formed the shape of a pompom.

“It is. Hold out your wrist.”

Tori did so. Jade moved to place the corsage on Tori’s wrist, but faltered when she realized she didn’t know how to tie it. She was determined not to mess it up. After positioning the flower, she fumbled with the ribbons until they were tied successfully. When she looked back up at Tori, her face hot from embarrassment, she found Tori’s beautiful smile still in place, which helped put her back at ease.

Jade opened the passenger door. Once Tori was inside the car, Jade walked across the front and slid into the driver’s seat. She turned on her PearTunes and adjusted the volume so that the music was a faint background noise before pulling away from the Vega household.

Hesitantly, unsure if Tori would be okay with her action, she reached her right hand across the center console and rested it on Tori’s knee. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah. Very okay.”

Jade laughed lightly.

“Isn’t the chrysanthemum supposed to represent death?” Tori asked, and Jade looked over to find her eyeing the corsage before returning her attention to the road, where it belonged.

“It can represent a lot of things. Meanings are different from place to place, culture to culture. Some people say it represents death, others say it represents happiness and love. I was going for the latter.” 

From the corner of her eye, she saw Tori turn to her with a look of surprise. “How does the big, bad Jade West know so much about flowers?”

Jade shrugged nonchalantly. “Flowers can be cool, especially when I cut them up with scissors. And…I think we both know I’m not as big and bad as I claim to be.”

The rest of their short drive was filled with pre-date chatter…or did the car ride count as part of their date? Jade honestly wasn’t sure. Beck was the one who had taken her out when they’d dated; she’d never been the one to do so. She decided the car ride was, in fact, part of the date, since she wanted Tori to enjoy every moment with her. When a song came on that they both liked a lot, Jade turned up the volume and grinned as Tori started singing along.

The rest of her nerves dissipated as she became lost in her girlfriend’s voice.

* * *

The Winter Ball was going great. They’d met up with their friends at the beginning to talk for a while. Robbie and Cat were each other’s dates for the night and, although Jade would never say so out loud, Robbie didn’t look as awkward in a suit as she thought he would. Andre’s date was somebody that no one in the group had ever met before, which wasn’t all that surprising. He’d opted for a white tuxedo, and his date – Marlene? – was all over him. Beck was the only group member without someone at his side, and Jade could tell he was uncomfortable. He didn’t seem upset, more so like he didn’t know what to do. She made a mental note to make sure he was okay later. Eventually, the group thinned as people ventured to different areas of the dance.

The Asphalt Café had been repurposed. The blue outdoor benches had all been moved to make more room for a makeshift dance floor with snowflake lights dancing across it. A live band was performing on the elevated stage, and Jade and Tori danced along to the fast-paced songs. Jade thought she recognized a few of them, but she was too busy making a fool of herself with her dance moves to think about anything else. Tori, meanwhile, was putting her to shame. Jade couldn’t tell if Tori actually knew what she was doing because Jade sure as hell didn’t, but the half-Latina was confident in herself, and it was a sight to see.

They laughed and danced until Jade was about ready to keel over from exhaustion. Tori took pity on her, suggesting they make their way to the gym, where the other part of the Winter Ball was set up.

The décor was, of course, Christmas-themed. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling. The tables were draped in white cloth. A variety of Christmas tree ball ornaments served as the centerpieces. Artificial trees were scattered across the area, fake snow surrounding the base of each one. A catering service provided appropriately themed foods and desserts. Her hand shot out and snatched up a Christmas tree brownie. She broke it in half, offering one piece to Tori, who smiled and said “no thanks”.

They made their way to an empty table in the corner of the room.

Tori poked her side. “Jade.”

“Yeah?”

“Notice how almost everything has a Christmas theme?”

Jade raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, we _are_ at a Winter Ball, Tori.”

Tori rolled her eyes. “Shut up. Look at the catering table underneath the scoreboard.”

Jade did, snorting in disbelief at what she saw. “Are those…spaghetti tacos?”

“Yeah, not very Christmas-y, huh?”

Despite the fact that she was still a little breathless from dancing, Jade pulled Tori’s chair out so she could sit down before promising to return with drinks for the both of them. She looked around at the available options before spotting the punch bowl by the back exit.

Robbie waved to her as he and Cat walked up to the bowl. “Hi, Jade!”

Robbie was intelligent enough not to bring Rex, although for the short moments she wasn’t with Tori and was instead getting them both drinks, she realized she kind of missed the crude puppet she had de-limbed countless times.

“Hey, Robbie,” she responded, her body moving unconsciously to the sounds of the live band playing outside. “Hey, Cat.”

“Someone’s in a good mood,” Robbie commented after a moment’s hesitation, as if he was afraid he was going to get maimed.

She laughed, giving him a small smile. “Yeah, well…it’s kind of hard not to be when Tori’s my date.”

“That’s awesome, Jade.”

“Uh-huh.” She grabbed the two drinks from the cloth-covered table, leaning over to whisper in Robbie’s ear. “You tell anyone else and you won’t be able to find Rex’s body.”

She walked away with a giant smirk on her face and purpose to her steps. She saw Tori sitting at one of the decorated tables, waiting in the same place Jade had left her a few minutes ago. Except now, there was a dude chatting with her. It seemed casual, with no evidence of flirtation on the guy’s end, but she sped up all the same.

“Jade, hey!” Beck didn’t block her path, but he made sure she could see his wave.

“Hey, Beck,” she said, eyes still on the table. After deeming it safe to look away, she focused her attention on her friend. “You good?”

“What do you mean?” he asked with a frown.

“I mean…are you okay?”

He smiled, though the brightness of it didn’t really reach his eyes. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’re the only one without a date.”

Beck scratched the back of his neck and cleared his throat. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his dress pants. “Yeah…it’s a little weird. I don’t know, I guess I’m just used to being at these kinds of things with you. I’m not really sure what to do now that I’m by myself. Actually, I was thinking about just calling it a night.”

“What? Why? You could walk up to any single girl here and she would dance with you.”

Beck laughed. He didn’t verbally agree with her, because he wasn’t like that, but she knew that he knew she was probably right. “I don’t really want that. I think I’d like to find someone who is more than a one-night thing. You know, get back into the dating pool and see who’s out there.” Jade grinned. “But, for now, I think I’m just gonna go shoot some zombies in the head.” He gave her a quick hug. “Enjoy the rest of the night with Tori. And tell her I said to have a good night.”

She almost let him walk away, but she realized there was one more thing she had to tell him. She grabbed his wrist. “Beck.”

“Yeah?”

“Any girl would be lucky to have you.”

This time, his smile reached his eyes. “Thanks, Jade.”

She nodded and let go of his wrist. She watched him walk out of the gym before hurrying back over to Tori, who was once again alone at the table.

“Did the punch bowl put up a fight?” Tori quipped.

Jade rolled her eyes and placed one of the cups in front of Tori. “I ran into Beck.”

“I know. I saw. Was it a good talk?”

Jade took a sip of her drink before nodding her head. “Yeah, it was. He told me to tell you to have a good night.”

Tori grinned, reaching her hand out. Jade took it, her fingers locking into the spaces between Tori’s own. “How could I not?” Tori asked. “You’re my date.”

Jade blushed. “You’re unbearable.”

“And yet, somehow you bear.”

“Yeah, yeah. Who were you talking to?” Jade asked.

Tori smirked at the question and sipped from her cup. “Ethan.”

“Ethan. As in the Ethan who asked you out?”

“Yep.”

“What did he want?” Her voice grew suspicious, but not of Tori.

“To ask me who I came with and how my night was going. He was just being friendly.”

“And what did you say?” she asked curiously.

“I told him that I came with you, and that my night was going great. I wished him fun with his date, and that was it.”

“Good because otherwise he would have had a date with my scissors.”

Conversation was easy after that. For a while, they talked about their classes for the second semester. Then, once Sikowitz was mentioned, they began theorizing about what kind of drugs the man put in his coconuts. They couldn’t decide on a concrete answer and, somehow, the topic eventually shifted to the UFC and how Jade had promised Tori months ago that she would show her some fights. There was an event on the following weekend, and Tori suggested they watch it at her place, which Jade easily agreed to.

By the time Jade checked the clock on her phone, so much time had passed that the dance was about to be over. Tori shot to her feet, pulling Jade with her, and they were off to get one more dance in. A decent amount of students still remained on the dance floor, but far less than before. The live band was playing slow music to wrap up the night, and Jade felt her body jolt with excitement. Tori wrapped an arm around Jade’s lower back and intertwined her free hand with Jade’s.

“Put your arm on my shoulder,” Tori whispered in Jade’s ear.

With a shiver, Jade did as she was told, and Tori took the lead, guiding their bodies in the search for a rhythm, the sound of a slow-strumming guitar washing over them. It was awkward and filled with unsteadiness. But it felt right, like the moment was perfect because of its imperfections. Maybe that was just the wishful thinking of a high school senior who was most definitely in love with the girl she was dancing with, but it was true.

* * *

Jade walked Tori to her front door, not quite ready for their night to end. They stood on the porch in silence for a moment, neither quite sure what to say to end such a wonderful night, before Tori took the initiative.

“I had a great time tonight, Jade,” she said softly.

Jade grinned. “Yeah? Me too.”

David’s loud and tired voice came from the other side of the door. “Tori! I saw Jade’s car pull up. I want to know how your night was before I go to bed. Hurry up!”

Tori groaned. “I should probably get inside. Call you tomorrow?” Tori reached into her clutch to grab her keys, but Jade stilled her by covering her hand.

“Can I kiss you?”

Tori swallowed, silent for a moment, before she nodded. “Y-Yeah. Please.”

So, she did. Jade’s lips captured Tori’s in a soft kiss. It didn’t last long; Jade pulled away before it got too passionate because she knew herself and she knew she wouldn’t have been able to stop the simple goodnight kiss from progressing to a full-blown make-out session if it had gone on much longer.

Tori smiled brightly as her eyes roamed Jade’s face. “Goodnight, Jade.”

“Goodnight, Tori.”

Jade stood there until Tori was safely inside, the door locked behind her, before walking back to her car, her mind clouded with thoughts of the kiss.

It was disgustingly romantic in a stereotypical movie-like way, but Jade didn’t mind in the slightest.

Not when she was starting something brand new with Tori Vega.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credits are owed to the wonderful kbs_was_here and PrettyLittlePoutyMouth for the format that models texting!
> 
> Well, everyone, in the words of Tony Stark: "This is the end of the path I started us on." 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> I don't see myself posting too much in the near future because I'm going to be focusing on two long-term projects (and actually getting a ways into them before publishing anything), but I do have a few smaller ideas as well that might be posted here and there. This is the first multi-chapter of mine that I've ever finished and it might not be much, but I'm proud. 
> 
> Peace out, everyone! :)


End file.
